South Korea: Ferrous scrap imports down by 11% m-o-m in Apr’22

South Korea imported 0.5 mnt of ferrous scrap in April 2022 against 0.56 mnt in March, a drop of 11% m-o-m, as per SteelMint’s customs data.

The country was largely dependent on domestic scrap. The slowing of imported scrap purchases due to the continuous rise in its prices kept producers away from replenishing their stock.

Imports from Japan remained high at 0.36 mnt, followed by Australia and Russia with 0.05 mnt and 0.04 mnt in April.

Interestingly, on a y-o-y basis, imports increased significantly by 28% from 0.39 mnt.

Country-wise breakup:

• Imports from Japan up: Japan continued to be the largest exporter of ferrous scrap to South Korea. About 68% of the latter’s total imports in April came from Japan. South Korea imported 0.36 mnt of Japanese bulk scrap in April, an increase of 9% against 0.33 mnt in the previous month. Due to the weakening of Japanese Yen against the dollar, buyers raised their bids.
• Imports from Australia up: Australia became the second largest exporter to South Korea with 0.05 mnt in April in comparison to 0.03 mnt in the previous month. Exports from Australia were significantly up by 67% m-o-m.
• Imports from USA, Russia down: South Korea’s scrap import volumes from USA saw a sharp decline of 80% to 0.02 mnt in April as against 0.1 mnt in March.

Imports from Russia fell by 20% to 0.04 mnt in April from 0.05 mnt in March. Due to logistical constraints, the country did not actively export to South Korea.

Outlook
It is likely that global scrap prices could rebound after Ramadan and end of the Golden Week holidays in early May on pent-up demand. It has been forecasted that in May, the market would be different as demand will normalise in Korea.