USA: Ferrous Scrap Exports Up 21% M-o-M on Increased Turkish Buying
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The United States, one of the major steel producers in the world, witnessed its ferrous scrap exports considerably move up in Oct'19. According to data maintained with SteelMint, exported scrap volume increased by 21% M-o-M to 1.52 MnT in Oct'19 from 1.26 MnT exported a month back in Sept'19. On a yearly basis, exports remained stable at 1.58 MnT of scrap exported during the same period a year ago.
Turkey remains the largest importer of ferrous scrap with 24% of share in the total scrap exported by the USA in Oct'19. The country increased its scrap imports by 21% to 0.34 MnT in Oct'19 as against 0.28 MnT of scrap imported in Sept'19. Followed by other major importers such as Taiwan & Mexico which imported 0.18 MnT each, up by 64% and 6% respectively M-o-M.
Imported scrap offers to Turkey started declining sharply since late August and buyers actively booked bulk cargoes at favorable prices.
USA witnessed an increase in exports of finished flat steel, long steel & ferrous scrap while exports of Coal & Iron ore have observed fall in Oct'19, as per recent data released by the customs department.
Iron Ore: United States iron ore exports for the month of Oct'19 witnessed at 0.91 MnT, fall by 23% as compared to 1.18 MnT a month ago. Exports dropped to seven months low as the level was last witnessed in Mar'19 at 0.19 MnT. On a yearly basis, exports dropped 26% as against 1.27 MnT in Oct'18. Canada marked the largest importer of iron ore for the month at 0.73 MnT, down 26% against Sep'19 imports at 0.98 MnT. Japan stood second largest at 0.15 MnT ( down 25% M-o-M) followed by Austria at 0.03 MnT.
Coal: The USA coal exports have seen a sharp decline during Oct'19, driven by reduced demand for coking coal. Data provided by customs indicate that exports from the country dropped 9% on the month to 9.2 MnT in Oct'19 as against 10.13 MnT in Sep'19. Besides, Coal volume was marked also 35% lower on the year from 12.46 MnT noted in Oct'18. Apparently, steel capacity cuts and lower mine output had lowered the export of coking coal which had fallen 20% M-o-M to 3.48 MnT in Oct'19.
India remained the largest coal buyers from the US, with imports of 1.34 MnT coal in Oct'19. The country was the sole importer to have witness growth in coal intake during the month. Notably, coal imports from other major buyers Japan, South Korea, Canada had fallen during Oct'19.
Finish Flat: The United States' finish flat export volume picked up by 17% to 0.49 in Oct'19 as compared with 0.42 MnT a month ago. On a yearly premise, the nation's flat steel exports volume up by 11% in Oct'19 in comparison with 0.44 MnT in Oct'18. The United States' finish flat exports to Mexico peaked by 37% to 0.26 MnT in Oct'19, which was 0.19 MnT in Sep'19. However, exports to Canada in Oct'19 have been consistent at 0.19 MnT for the past three months.
Finish Long: Finish long exports from the USA witnessed an increased by 14% M-o-M in Oct'19, exporting 0.08 MnT as compared to 0.07 MnT exported in Sept'19. On a yearly basis too, finish long exports increased from 0.07 MnT exported a year ago in Oct'18. Canada remained the largest importer with 63% share in total finish long steel exported by the USA, as it imported 0.05 MnT in Oct'19, up by 25% M-o-M from 0.04 MnT imported in Sept'19. Another major finish long importer-Mexico, imported a 0.02 MnT in both the months Sept & Oct'19 each.
USA's crude steel production marginally increased by 5% to 7.41 MnT in Oct'19 as compared to 7.07 MnT production reported in Sept'19. On a yearly basis, the production was recorded at 7.57 MnT during the same period in 2018, according to the World Steel Association.
USA Steel Export Oct'19 | |||||
Products | Oct'19 | Sept'19 | % Change M-o-M | Oct'18 | % Change Y-o-Y |
Ferrous Scrap | 15,21,935 | 1,261,141 | 20.7 | 1,536,343 | -0.9 |
Coal | 92,02,905 | 10,128,422 | -9.1 | 12,456,120 | -26.1 |
Iron Ore | 9,07,478 | 1,177,591 | -22.9 | 1,269,984 | -28.5 |
Finished Long | 80,733 | 69,859 | 15.6 | 70,572 | 14.4 |
Finished Flat | 4,93,016 | 417,786 | 18 | 438,908 | 12.3 |
Quantity in MT
Source: Custom Data & SteelMint Stats