Major European ferrous scrap exporters including the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium continued to increase their exports to Asian markets in 2019. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have ramped up steel production capacity making Southeast Asia lucrative markets for European ferrous scrap exporters for the past two years at the minimum. Exports to these three countries constituted a large portion of ferrous scrap trade after the usual EU countries and Turkey. Imports into Turkey from the four European countries declined by 21.56pc to 5,919,956mt in 2019 from the prior year.
In 2019, total ferrous scrap exports by the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium to Bangladesh were 807,420mt, up by 27.56pc from 2018. Exports to India rose marginally to 1,245,679mt from 1,240,566mt in the prior year. Exports to Pakistan, however, declined by 68.51pc to 111,416mt. The devaluation of Pakistan’s currency PKR was also a reason.
UK
In 2019, UK’s exports to India rose to 799,191mt from 702,728mt in the year prior. Exports to Bangladesh were up by 35pc to 739,205mt. Imports into Pakistan, however, declined by 6pc to 9,993,192mt. Exports to Turkey declined by 15pc to 2,141,513mt.
German
Germany’s exports to India were at 222,806mt in 2019, up by 25pc from the year prior. Exports to Pakistan rose to 117,756mt from 99,923 and that to Bangladesh by 230pc to 28,044mt. Exports to Turkey fell by 3pc to 673,400mt.
Netherlands
In 2019, the Netherlands exported 256,618mt of ferrous scrap to India, up by 8pc from the prior year. Imports into Pakistan were at 82,717mt, up from 45,008mt while the imports into Bangladesh declined by 35pc to 22,528mt. Exports to Turkey rose by 26pc to 3,055,289mt from a year ago.
Belgium
Belgium’s exports to India rose by 73pc to 208,947mt in 2019 from the year prior. Exports to Pakistan rose by 48pc to 111,416. Imports into Bangladesh from Belgium declined by 21pc to 33,384mt. Exports to Turkey also declined by 29pc to 1,356,394mt.