U.S. Copper Scrap Exports Surged 30% In First Quarter 2018

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The U.S. exports of Copper Waste and Scrap during the initial three-month period of the year totaled $822.14 million. This is notably higher by nearly 30% when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2017. The country’s exports had totaled $632.42 million during the three months from January to March in 2017. The exports had totaled $2.76 billion during the entire year 2017.

The top five destinations of U.S. exports of copper waste and scrap during the initial quarter of 2018 were China, Canada, South Korea, Germany and Japan. These five countries received almost 84% of the copper waste and scrap exported by the U.S. Despite tough restrictions, China continued to be the primary market of U.S. exports. The exports to China totaled $487.23 million, representing 59% of total U.S. shipments. The exports to Canada totaled $90.74 million, accounting for nearly 11% market share of U.S. exports. In third place was South Korea with imports totaling $40.72 million. The exports to Germany and Japan totaled $40.42 million and $30.64 million respectively.

The U.S exports of Copper Waste and Scrap totaled $297.46 million for the month of March 2018.

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Meantime, the imports of the material by the U.S. totaled $216.32 million during Q1 2018, increasing sharply by 19% over the previous year. The imports had totaled $182.01 million during Jan-Mar ’17. The monthly imports totaled $74.93 million in March ’18.

Canada was the leading supplier. The country accounted for 67% of the total U.S imports, followed by Mexico with 22% market share. The imports from Canada and Mexico totaled $144.45 million and $48.08 million respectively. The other key exporters during the three-month period were Venezuela ($6.83 million), Panama ($3.37 million) and Costa Rica ($1.68 million). Nearly 95% of all waste copper and scrap imports by the U.S. were from the above five countries.