USA: Ferrous Scrap Exports Increase by 5% in CY'19

The United States, one of the major steel producers in the world, witnessed a slight increase in its ferrous scrap exports in CY'19. Scrap export volume increased by 5% Y-o-Y to 17.36 MnT in CY'19 from 16.59 MnT of exports registered in CY'18, as per customs data maintained with SteelMint.

Turkey remains the largest ferrous scrap importer with 23% of share in total scrap exported by the USA in CY'19, importing 3.92 MnT in CY'19, up by 14% Y-o-Y as against 3.43 MnT in CY'18. Other major importers- Taiwan & Mexico, imported 1.81 MnT (down by 4%) and 1.42 MnT (down by 21%) respectively.

The country witnessed a drop in raw material exports like coal & iron ore and in finished products like finish long & flat steel in CY'19.

Coal: US coal exports have dropped 16% Y-o-Y to 122.56 MnT in CY19 compared with 145.87 MnT in CY18, data provided by US customs showed. The sharp fall in export volume was in line with the lower coal prices. The US coal sector was impacted by a number of bankruptcies, as lower prices had eliminated profit margins; besides, increased coal-to-gas switching had eventually reduced coal's share as a source of power generation in the country.

In addition, relatively high costs and freight rates to Asian markets coupled with strong currency compared with Australia also affect the country's exports of its largest traded commodity-Coking coal.

India remained the largest buyer of US coal in CY19, however, the country has registered its first Y-o-Y decline in intake since CY12. Indian coal imports decreased 7% Y-o-Y to 17.64 MnT in CY19. Lower exports to Europe, India and South Korea have more than offset the impact of a modest rise in export to Japan, which grew 7% Y-o-Y to 14.2 MnT in CY19. Netherlands was the third-largest importer in CY19 with an intake of 9.8 MnT coal during the year.

Iron Ore: United States iron ore exports for the year CY'19 witnessed at 11.34 MnT, down 13% as against 12.99 MnT in CY'18. Canada marked the largest importer of iron ore for the year at 8.46 MnT, down 16% as compared to 10.07 MnT in CY18. Japan stood second-largest importer at 2.45 MnT (up 13% Y-o-Y) followed by the UK at 0.13 MnT.

United States iron ore exports for the month of Dec19 recorded at 0.68 MnT, down 28% as compared to 0.95 MnT in Nov'19.

Finish Long: Finish long exports from USA observed a sharp fall by 32% to 0.83 MnT in CY'19 as compared to 1.22 MnT of finish long exported in CY'18. Canada imported 0.53 MnT of finish long in CY'19 as compared to 0.86 MnT in CY'18, decreasing by 38% Y-o-Y in CY'19.

Finish Flat: The US finish-flat exports resorted to 5.11 MnT in CY'19, declining by 10% in comparison with 5.66 MnT in a similar time frame of CY'18. The trade war started by the US in Mar'18 weighed on its exports through the entire CY'19.

Also, the delay in finalization of the trilateral deal of USMCA (United states-Mexico-Canada Agreement) resulted in a decline of exports to Canada at 2.13 MnT in CY'19 as against 2.61 in CY'18. Meanwhile, the exports to Mexico witnessed a marginal increase to 2.5 MnT in CY'19 as against 2.45 MnT in CY'18. However, on a monthly premise, the US finish flat exports in Dec'19 fell by 5% and stood at 0.39 MnT as against 0.41 MnT in Nov'19.

Quantity in MT
Source: SteelMint Research & Customs Data