South Korea’s aluminum scrap imports rose by 11.5pc to 352,443mt in January-April from 315,838mt in the same period of 2020. Copper scrap imports, however, declined by 16.6pc to 107,843mt from 125,758mt in the same four months under comparison.
In April, aluminum scrap imports increased by 9.3pc to 91,698mt from 83,901mt in the same month of the previous year, according to the country’s Customs data. Copper scrap imports moved up by 8.5pc to 30,582mt from 27,974mt in the same period.
The US, South Korea’s largest supplier, recorded a 7pc decrease in aluminum shipments to 22,987mt in April from 24,786mt in the previous year and a 4pc decrease in copper exports to 7,075mt from 7,363mt. China was the smallest exporter for copper to South Korea in the same timeframe, despite a 54pc increase from 644mt in April 2020 to 990mt last month.
In terms of growth, Canada’s aluminum scrap exports to South Korea rose by 363pc to 4,368mt last month from 944mt in April 2020 and the United Arab Emirates recorded a 164pc increase in copper exports to the country to 1,670mt from 634mt during the same period.
Aluminum imports from Thailand declined by 29pc to 7,038mt in April from 9,934mt last year. Additionally, Japan’s aluminum exports to South Korea fell by 17pc to 9,849mt from 11,849mt in the same month under review.
At 2,267mt, Saudi Arabia remained the second-largest copper scrap exporter to South Korea in April with a 5pc incline from 2,160mt exported in the same month last year. The United Kingdom showed the second greatest percentage increase with an 81pc rise from 2,113mt in April 2020 to 3,818mt in the same month this year.