South Korea’s ferrous scrap imports increased to 413,567mn mt in June, up by 9pc from May and an increase of 18pc from the prior year amid active buying by mills. But cumulative imports in H1 declined to 2.10mn mt, down by 12.5pc from the prior-year period.
Top exporter Japan shipped 303,750mt scrap in June, up by 38pc from May and up by 16pc from a year ago. Russian exporters continued to trade with Korean buyers, but shipments dropped by 15pc from May to 41,851mt. The US remained the third-largest exporter with 38,634mt scrap exports to Korea, which is 55pc lower than in May and double the shipment in the prior year.
Exports from the Philippines and newer destinations like Niger and Yemen also doubled in June as mills sought competitively priced scrap in a sellers’ market.
| South Korea’s ferrous scrap imports in June | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exporters | June 2021 | May 2021 | Change MoM | June 2020 | Change YoY |
| Japan | 3,03,750 | 2,20,865 | 38% | 2,61,443 | 16% |
| Russia | 41,851 | 49,035 | -15% | 55,841 | -25% |
| US | 38,634 | 85,598 | -55% | 19,260 | 101% |
| Thailand | 6,700 | 6,578 | 2% | 4,497 | 49% |
| Philippines | 3,741 | 1,777 | 111% | 611 | 512% |
| Niger | 3,601 | – | 100% | – | 100% |
| Taiwan | 2,964 | 2,692 | 10% | 321 | 824% |
| Yemen | 2,453 | 1,123 | 119% | – | 100% |
| Others | 9,872 | 10,481 | -6% | 9,383 | 5% |
| Total | 4,13,567 | 3,78,149 | 9% | 3,51,356 | 18% |
South Korean ferrous scrap exports also increased marginally in June to 47,699mt, up by 1pc from May and up 215pc from 15,133mt in June 2020. India was the top destination for Korea scrap, followed by China and Thailand with imports of 14,346mt, 12,026mt and 7,619mt, respectively. Exports to Vietnam zoomed multi-folds to 5,323mt, up by 783pc from May.