USA, world’s largest ferrous scrap supplier, recorded a 7% m-o-m rise to 1.35 million tonnes (mnt) in February 2022 as against 1.26 mnt in January, as per customs data compiled by SteelMint.
The shipments rose on the back of increasing demand of bulk cargos across globe.
However, on a y-o-y basis, the country’s export volumes remained largely stable compared with 1.34 mnt in February 2021.
Factors behind rise in exports-
- Rise in shipments for Turkey: Exports to Turkey, the largest buyer of seaborne scrap, have remained high at 0.37 mnt in February as against 0.31 mnt in the previous month. Turkish mills turned active in booking cargoes on rising interest along with strengthening value of lira against the dollar.
- Active bulk buying from Bangladesh: Bangladesh, one of the major bulk scrap buyers, imported 0.19 mnt in February, higher by 12% compared to 0.17 mnt in January. Due to a drop in bulk offers, buyers were more interested in booking US-origin cargoes over Japanese ones. The price disparity between bid-offers kept scrap buyers away from the Japanese market.
- Ferrous scrap prices fall in Jan’22: SteelMint’s assessment of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) stood at $465/t CFR Turkey in January from $470/t CFR Turkey in December.
Outlook
It is expected that US ferrous scrap exports may drop in March due to Russia-Ukraine conflict. Hence, buyers may choose and close deals with European suppliers.
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