The US, the top ferrous scrap exporter in the world, witnessed an 18% m-o-m drop in the same in January, 2023.
Scrap exports dropped after a hike in prices in December, 2022 (as compared to November, 2022) as per Customs data. The country exported a total of 1.22 million tonnes (mnt) of scrap in January against 1.48 mnt in December.
Interestingly, exports to India saw a significant fall in January compared to December 2022.
Sluggish finished and semi-finished steel demand from domestic and overseas buyers kept Turkish scrap buyers less active in the import market.
Scrap imports
The US’ ferrous scrap import volumes increased by 9% m-o-m to 0.36 mnt in January 2023 as compared to 0.33 mnt in December 2022. Canada emerged as the highest exporter at 0.29 mnt.
The US’ steel billets imports sharply increased by 176% m-o-m to 0.31 mnt in January, 2023 from 0.11 mnt in December, 2022, as per data recently released by Customs. Brazil was the largest exporter at 0.20 mnt in January, 2023. Crude steel production by the US remained stable m-o-m at 6.5 mnt for January.
Country-wise shipments
Exports to Turkiye, India drop: Turkiye received 247,043 t of US scrap in January compared to 331,492 t in December, a sharp fall of 25% m-o-m. India, one of the emerging buyers of US ferrous scrap, imported 127,321 t in January, down 67% compared to 391,086 t in December.
Mexico top importer: US exports to Mexico increased by 25% to 301,921 t in January 2023 as against 235,685 t in December 2022. Lesser involvement of Turkish buyers turned out to be an advantage for Mexico.
Outlook
US scrap export prices may remain high in the coming months as leading importers like Mexico, India and Turkiye might remain busy in maintaining their inventories for the next few weeks. The earthquake in Turkiye has impacted the country’s infrastructure. As a result, its requirement of finished long products like rebar can result in an increase in scrap prices.
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