USA: Ferrous scrap exports fall by 15% m-o-m in Apr'20

The United States of America, one of the major steel producers in the world, witnessed a fall by 15% in its ferrous scrap exports in Apr'20. The country exported 1.17 mn t in Apr'20 from 1.38 mn t in a month back in Mar'20, according to data maintained with SteelMint.

Notably, this was the lowest scrap export recorded since Jan'19, when it was exported at 0.99 mn t. On a yearly basis too, exports have decreased by 21% from 1.48 mn t registered during the same month in the last year.

Turkey remains the largest importer of ferrous scrap with 21% of share in the total scrap exported by the USA in Apr'20. The country imported 0.24 mn t in Apr'20, decreasing by 45% as against 0.44 mn t of scrap imported in Mar'20. Followed by other major importers such as Mexico & South Korea which imported 0.2 mn t and 0.15 mn t respectively.

The country's other steel products like coal, finish flat and long steel exports were decreased in Apr'20, while exports of iron ore have increased with many folds in Apr'20, as per recent data released by the customs department.

Iron ore: United States iron ore exports for Apr'20 witnessed at 1.15 mn t. The exports depicted a significant rise on a monthly basis as against 0.25 mn t in Mar'20. On a yearly basis, exports dropped 13% as compared to 1.32 mn t in Apr'19.
Canada stood the major importer accounting for 68% of total imports for the month at 0.78 mn t, up as against 0.16 mn t in Mar'20. Japan marked the remaining 32% of imports at 0.37 mn t.

Coal: Coal exports by US have dropped to its lowest total since Nov'16, after witnessing a slump in demand across its major buyers. Data provided by customs indicate that the country had exported 8.25 mn t coal in Apr'20, which had fell 17% m-o-m from 9.94 mn t in Mar'20. The volume was also down 23% y-o-y compared with 10.74 mn t in Apr'19.

India was the highest recipient of US coal with 1.42 mn t in Apr'20. However, coal intake decreased 48% on the month from 2.71 mn t in Mar'20. With adequate stock available at power plants, Indian buyers were seen shying away from coal imports, at a time when electricity consumption was curtailed due to COVID-19 led lock-down. A decline in coal receipt from second placed- Japan was also reported during the month.

Finished Flat: The nation's finished flat export volumes for Apr'20 stood at 0.25 mn t, significantly down by 44% in contrast with 0.45 mn t in the previous month. The disruption in trade activities with Mexico and Canada and the slump in demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a notable decline in monthly exports from the USA by 35% and 56% respectively.

The nation's export to Mexico stood at 0.15 mn t and that to Canada at 0.08 mn t in Apr'20. In similar lines, the nation's export declined annually by 39% as against 0.41 mn t in Apr'19.

Finish Long: Finish long export from the USA witnessed decrease by 22% M-o-M to 0.07 mn t in Apr'20, in contrast with 0.09 mn t exported in Mar'20. On a yearly basis, finish long exports observed an increase of 17% from 0.06 mn t exported a year ago in Apr'19.

Canada remained the largest importer of finish long, as it imported 0.04 mn t in Apr'20, down by 33% M-o-M from 0.06 mn t imported in Mar'19.

Quantity in MT
Source: Customs Data & SteelMint Stats