US Ferrous Scrap Exports Nudged Higher by 18% in 2017

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The latest scrap export statistics published by the US Census Bureau indicates remarkable surge in ferrous scrap exports by the country during 2017. The purchases by traditional customers remained buoyant throughout the year. However, it was the massive demand growth in fast-emerging markets that led to significant surge in export quantities, when compared with the year before that.

The yearly exports surpassed the milestone of 15 million tonnes during the previous year, US Census Bureau data said. The exports rose sharply by 17.8% over 2016 to total 15.016 million tonnes during the year. It must be noted that the exports had totaled only 12.75 million tonnes in 2016. The volume of shipments to major trade partners continued to remain robust. On top of that, demand from emerging markets zoomed, leading to significantly higher exports. Among major buyers, only India recorded decline in purchase volume in 2017.

The largest destination of US scrap exports was Turkey. The exports to that country totaled 3.631 million tonnes, accounting for nearly one-fourth of the total US ferrous scrap exports. The exports to Turkey registered over 14% growth from 2016. The second largest importer- Mexico increased its ferrous scrap purchases from the US by over 5% to 1.667 million tonnes. In third place was Taiwan with total purchases of 1.419 million tonnes. The Taiwanese imports of US scrap too increased by around 5% in 2017. The other key export destinations were China (1.017 million tonnes) and Canada (919,067 tonnes).

The shipments to Egypt skyrocketed by 232% to total 399,694 tonnes. The exports to Bangladesh surged higher by 109% to 619,899 tonnes during the year. The country’s exports to Vietnam totaled 710,087 tonnes, higher by 92% when compared with 2016. The shipments to Pakistan too were up considerably by 53% to 691,192 tonnes. On the other hand, India’s scrap purchases from the US declined considerably from the prior year by nearly 36% to total 707,310 tonnes in 2017.