Ferrous Scrap Imports Badly Hit by Drop in Demand from Steelmakers

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The ferrous scrap imports by South Koreas registered substantial decline during the month of August this year. The reduced intake is mainly driven by dip in scrap demand from steelmakers, mainly on account of ongoing disruption in steel sector activity due to Covid-19.

The country imported 284,118 tonnes of ferrous scrap in August this year. This is significantly down by 8.5% over the prior month. It must be noted that the July ’20 imports by the country had totalled 310,649 tonnes. The imports during the month hit the lowest level since December 2008.

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The ferrous scrap shipments from Japan recorded over 21% month-on-month decline, falling from 200,180 tonnes in July to 157,946 tonnes in August. The imports from that country totalled 1.98 million tonnes in Jan-Aug ’20, down by almost one-fourth over the previous year.

The South Korean imports from the U.S. almost tripled over the previous month to 47,518 tonnes in August. However, cumulative imports during the initial eight-month period of the year almost halved to 404,770 tonnes, when compared with the year ago period. The imports from Russia surged higher by almost 20%, whereas the scrap supplies from Australia fell month-on-month from 32,268 tonnes to just 620 tonnes.