Steel scrap imports by India tumble 34% in September

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster): The latest statistics released by the Directorate General of Commerce Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S) under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India indicate that the country’s ferrous scrap declined sharply in September, in comparison with the previous month. This is the sixth straight month of decline in scrap imports by the country. Also, the imports were down when matched with those during the same month a year before. The combined imports during the initial three-quarters of 2016 were marginally up year-on-year.

India imported 338,696 tons of scrap steel during the month of September this year. The imports were down by 11.1% when matched with the previous month. The country had imported 381,095 tons of scrap steel during August 2016. When compared with the year before, the September ’16 imports were down sharply by 34.0%. The country’s ferrous scrap imports had totaled 513,176 tons during September last year.

The largest exporter of ferrous scrap to India during September this year was the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The imports from the UAE totaled 57,811 tons, accounting for more than 17% of the total scrap imports by India during the month. The imports from the country witnessed nearly 9% decline from the previous month imports of 63,254 tons. The UK was the second largest exporter during the month, with 52,580 tons. The ferrous scrap imports from the UK surged higher by more than 21% over the previous month. The other key exporters of ferrous scrap to India during the month were Malaysia (20,094 tons), Singapore (17,802 tons), South Africa (15,471 tons), Thailand (15,262 tons) and Belgium (11,573 tons).

The country’s scrap imports during January to September this year totaled 4.885 million tons. The imports during this period have witnessed marginal rise of 3.9% over the imports during the same period a year ago. The country’s scrap imports had totaled 4.700 million tons during January to September in 2015. The scrap imports averaged nearly 542,786 tons during the first nine months of the year. The annualized scrap imports by the country are estimated to surpass 6.50 million tons during the entire year 2016.

The largest supplier of ferrous scrap to India during the initial nine-month period in 2016 was the USA. The scrap imports from the US increased considerably by 42.6% year-on-year to 828,604 tons when matched with the imports of 581,078 tons during the corresponding period last year. The imports from the US accounted for 17% of the total imports by India during this period. The other leading exporters of ferrous scrap to India during the initial nine-month period in 2016 were the UK (730,114 tons, 14.9% share), the UAE (667,546 tons, 13.7% share), Singapore (242,143 tons, 5.0% share), South Africa (242,011 tons, 5.0% share) and Australia (230,659 tons, 4.7% share of total imports).

The imports from Hong Kong recorded highest jump during Jan-Sep ’16. The imports from the country surged higher by nearly 5,600% over the previous year. On the other hand, imports from South Korea declined the most during this period. The scrap imports from the country reported 59.4% year-on-year decline. The other countries to report significant decline in import volumes were Kuwait (-53.4%), Togo (-48.3%) and Germany (-46.1%).

The table below provides the tonnage of ferrous scrap import by India during the initial nine months of 2016.