United States Steel Export Statistics: Q2 2019

United States, one of the major steel producers in the world, witnessed a rise in exports of ferrous scrap and Iron Ore in Q2 CY'19 while exports of Coal, finished flat and long steel as well as graphite electrode witnessed a decrease, the recent customs data showed. USA's total crude steel production in Q2 CY'19 stood at 22.36 MnT, slightly increasing by 0.3 % Q-o-Q against 22.30 MnT of production in Q1 CY'19 .

Ferrous Scrap - US ferrous scrap exports showed a significant recovery in Q2 CY'19 after witnessing below average exports in Q1'CY19 on strong domestic demand. It exported 4,905,132 MT ferrous scrap in Q2 CY'19, rising 36% Q-o-Q as against 3,606,067 MT in Q1 CY'19. On yearly premises scrap exports increased by a considerable 17% Y-o-Y, as against 1,503,644 MT ferrous scrap recorded in Q2 CY'18. With the halving of import tariffs on Turkish steel by USA, scrap bookings by Turkey picked up in the later part of the quarter, while other top importers like Canada, Taiwan and Mexico also availed the fall in prices to their benefit with increased bookings.

US-origin HMS 1&2 scrap exports prices showed continuous downtrend through most the Q2 CY'19, as price assessment for bulk HMS (80:20) to Turkey reached as low as USD 280-285/MT by June end, from USD 320/MT levels at the beginning of the quarter.

*Country wise: Turkey remained the largest importer occupying 19% share in total USA scrap exports, while it witnessed a rise of 13% Q-o-Q, as it imported 929,787 MT in Q2 CY'19 as against 825,472 MT in Q1 CY'19. Canada climbed up to be 2nd largest importer with a huge rise of 90% Q-o-Q, as it imported 592,125 MT in the quarter, with a 12% of share. Other top scrap importers from USA were Taiwan (432,380 MT, up 3% Q-o-Q), Mexico (371,648 MT, up 22% Q-o-Q) and South Korea (364,668 MT, down 2% Q-o-Q) with 9%, 8% and 7% share respectively.

Coal - US coal exports have remained subdued during the second quarter of CY19. Data provided by customs indicate that the country had exported 31.65 MnT coal in Apr-Jun'19 period, down 17% Y-o-Y from 38.36 MnT recorded in the same period last year. Export volumes were also 5% lower on the quarter from 33.17 MnT noted in the first quarter period (Jan-Mar'19).The decline can be pegged to oversupply and a lack of demand in Europe due to mild weather, also contributed by a hefty fall in seaborne thermal coal prices.

Country-wise: Over the period, India emerged as the largest coal importer from the US, however, the buying activity was lowered due to the onslaught of monsoon. Indian coal imports decreased 30% Q-o-Q to 4.37 in Q2 CY19, which was also marked 15% lower on the year from 5.12 MnT in Q2 CY18.

Iron Ore - United States iron ore exports picked up significantly for quarter ending June'19 at 3.93 MnT, as against 0.94 MnT in Q1CY19. The rise is attributed to supply crunch in global market caused due to Vale dam burst and Australian cyclone Veronica. This led to decreased exports from Australia and Brazil for the quarter ending June'19. On yearly basis, exports dropped 6% as compared to 4.17 MnT in Q2 CY18.However, For H1CY19, exports recorded at 4.87 MnT, down 13% Y-o-Y as compared to 5.57 MnT in H1 CY18.

Country-wise: Canada continued to be largest importer for the month at 2.76 MnT, up significantly Q-o-Q as against 0.83 MnT in Q1 CY19. Japan stood second largest importer at 0.97 MnT, up sharply against 0.03 MnT in last quarter. Amongst other importer's stood Slovenia, UK and Mexico at 0.08 MnT, 0.05 MnT and 0.04 MnT respectively.

Finished Flat - Nation's finish flat exports inched down by 2% in Q2CY'19 to 1.26 MnT as against 1.28 MnT in Q1CY'19.
Meanwhile on monthly premise the same decreased marginally by 2% to 0.42 MnT in Jun'19 in comparison to 0.43 MnT in preceding month.
On yearly basis the same dipped by 25% in Jun'19 as against 0.56 MnT in Jun'18.

Country-wise: USA majorly exports to Mexico and accounted for 0.6 MnT in Q2CY'19, down by 3% in comparison with 0.62 MnT in previous quarter.
Following this nation's exports to Canada remained stable at 0.53 MnT in Q2CY'19 over preceding quarter.

Finished Long - USA finished long steel exports witnessed a fall in quarterly scrap imports in Q2 CY'19. The country exported 0.19 MnT ferrous scrap in the quarter, down 10% Q-o-Q as against 0.21 MnT ferrous scrap recorded in Q1 CY'19. While on a yearly premises, the finish long steel registered a huge fall of 53% Y-o-Y as against 0.40 MnT in Q2 CY'18.

Country-wise: Canada remained the largest importer of Finished long steel from US in Q2 CY'19 as it imported 0.13 MnT in the quarter, with a share of 68% in total US exports, remaining unchanged Q-o-Q with 0.13 MnT imported in Q1 CY'19 as well.

Mexico was the other significant importer, with a share of 31%, as it imported 0.06 MnT of long steel in Q2 CY'19, up 20% Q-o-Q.

United States Steel Exports: Q2 2019

Quantity in MnT,
Source: SteelMint Stats

* = Correction