USA: Ferrous scrap exports touch over 17 mnt in CY'21

USA, the world's largest ferrous scrap exporter, recorded shipments of the material at 17.59 million tonnes (mnt) in CY'21, a 6% y-o-y rise as against 16.56 mnt in Jan-Dec'20, as per customs data compiled by SteelMint.

The export volumes have remained high on improved demand for finished steel in major buying countries amidst high Japanese scrap prices.

Turkey was the top importer with 3.5 mnt in this period, followed by Mexico and Malaysia with 3.1 mnt and 1.4 mnt, respectively.

In Dec'21, ferrous scrap exports from USA fell by 18%, m-o-m, to 1.09 mnt against 1.33 mnt in November.

Country wise break-up

• Turkey remained largest importer: Turkey, the largest buyer of seaborne scrap, remained the top importer of US scrap with 3.47 mnt in Jan-Dec'21. Turkish mills turned active in booking deep-sea cargoes on rising interest owing to strong demand for billets and long steel products.
  
  
• Shipments for Pakistan stable: Pakistan, the leading ferrous scrap importer in South Asia, procured 0.71 mnt from USA in Jan-Dec'21 as against same imports last year. Pakistani buyers continued to procure US scrap procurement due to reasonable offers. Furthermore, the country was largely focussed on infrastructure development in CY'21 which boosted its imported scrap demand.
  
  
• Active bulk bookings from Bangladesh: Bangladesh imported a total of 1.36 mnt of US scrap in Jan-Dec'21. Lower scrap offers from US-based suppliers attracted Bangladeshi buyers to prefer the material over others, especially Japan.
  
  
• Shipments to India drop - USA exported 0.49 mn t scrap to India in CY'21 as against 0.65 mn t in CY'20. Dubai is the first source country for Indian buyers because of its geographical proximity. The lead time between bookings and delivery to user-end plant varies from 20-30 days, depending on locations within India. On the other hand, the delivery time from UK and USA is 45-60 days. A longer lead time, coupled with the shortage in containers, pushed up prices and kept supply uncertain.
  
  
• Shipments to Vietnam rise - US shipped 1.44 mn t scrap to Vietnam in CY'21 as against 0.99 mn t in the previous year. The discrepancy in bids and offers as Vietnam mills showed less interest in booking at higher prices from Japan, which supported bookings from US.
  
  

Ferrous scrap prices rise in CY'21: SteelMint's assessment of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) stood at $459/tonne (t) CFR Turkey in Jan-Dec'21, witnessing a rise of $168/t from $291/t CFR Turkey, in Jan-Dec'20.

Outlook
It is expected that USA's ferrous scrap exports market may continue to see further improvement owing to resumption of construction activities in the major buying countries.