Taiwan’s imports of stainless steel (SS) scrap in 2019 rose by 65.3pc from the prior year. Taiwan imported 400,338mt of stainless steel scrap in 2019, up by 158,156mt from the previous year.
US was the top supplier of SS scrap to Taiwan in 2019. US exported 139,989mt of stainless steel scrap, up by 61.8pc or 53,511mt from the previous year. Japan was the second largest supplier, and exported 64,842mt of stainless steel scrap to Taiwan, up by 116.2pc or 34,846mt from 2018.
UK’s exports to Taiwan also surged in 2019. UK exported 23,023mt of stainless steel scrap to Taiwan, up by 619.7pc from 3,199mt from the previous year.
In December, Taiwan imported 25,681mt of stainless steel scrap, up by 6.1pc or 1,482mt from the prior year. US remained the top supplier, however exports from the US to Taiwan dropped by 35pc or 3,879mt to 7,177mt from a year ago. Exports of SS scrap from Japan and rose by 53.2pc or 1,810mt to 5,215mt in December from the prior year.
Taiwan produced 1.17mn mt of stainless steel in 2018, down from 1.37mn mt of stainless steel production in 2017. Imports of stainless steel scrap increased in 2019, however, production is not expected to match 2017 numbers, as Taiwan started importing cheaper stainless steel slab and HRC from Tsingshan’s Indonesian plant since the beginning of 2019.