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South Korea: Ferrous scrap imports drop significantly by 46% m-o-m in May'24

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Melting Scrap

BigMint Bureau

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8 Jul 2024, 18:39 IST

South Korea: Ferrous scrap imports drop significantly by 46% m-o-m in May'24

South Korea's ferrous scrap imports declined significantly by 46% m-o-m in May reaching 118,076 tonnes (t) compared to 219,757 t in April 2024. However, y-o-y imports, dropped by 62% from 311,983 t in the previous year.

For the first five months of this year, total scrap imports amounted to 0.84 million tonnes (mnt), marking a significant decline of 47% from the 1.59 mnt imported during the same period in 2023.

Country-wise imports

Imports from Japan: Imports from Japan into South Korea declined by 46% in May, reaching 81,350 t, down from 150,262 t in April. However, on a y-o-y basis, imports fell by 65% compared to 234,595 t recorded in May 2023.

For the first five months of this year, total scrap imports recorded 1,169,238 t with a downfall of 44% compared to 656,189 t in the same period in 2023.

Imports from the US: Korean mills imported approximately 4,529 t of ferrous scrap from the US in May, representing a decrease of 87% compared to just 34,997 t in April. On a y-o-y basis, ferrous scrap imports declined by 71% from 15,870 t recorded in May 2023.

Import volumes of first five months have dropped by 64% from 60,819 t compared to 167040 t recorded in May 2023.

Imports from Russia: Scrap imports from Russia reached approximately 25,515 t in April, marking a significant decrease of 10% compared to 28,335 t in the previous month. Y-o-y imports dropped by 45% from 46,503 t recorded in May 2023.

For the first five consecutive months imports decreased by 31% from 180,241 t in May 2023 as compared to 91,340 t recorded in May 2024.

Billet exports, imports

South Korea's steel billet exports surged by a whopping 269% m-o-m to 69,944 t in May compared to 18,961 t a month ago, as per data released by Customs. Japan was the largest importer with 26,930 t followed by Mexico with 5,444 t. Similarly, export volumes surged by 31% y-o-y from 54,865 t in April 2023.

South Korea's steel billet imports jumped 25% m-o-m to 116,028 t in May as against 92,455 t in April. Mexico was the largest exporter with 37,818 t, followed by Japan with 32,060 t. Meanwhile, import volumes increased by 30% y-o-y from 53,834 t in May 2023.