Ferrous and copper scrap imports in Taiwan declined by 42pc and 36pc, respectively, in February compared to the same month last year, according to the country’s Customs data.
Taiwan imported 212,719mt of ferrous scrap last month, down from 369,627mt in February 2020, while its copper shipments declined to 7,384mt from 11,560mt during the same timeframe.
Compared with January, ferrous scrap shipments to the Asian country declined by 15pc in February from 250,633mt, while its copper scrap imports fell by 26pc from 10,104mt in this period.
US remains the top exporter
The US was the top exporter for both ferrous and copper scrap to Taiwan in February even though the volumes procured from the former fell on an annual basis.
The US shipped 76,434mt of ferrous scrap to Taiwan in February, down by 49pc from 150,384mt in the same month last year and by 18pc from 93,526mt exported in the previous month. The country’s copper scrap imports from the US also dropped on an annual basis, down 40pc to 1,873mt last month from 3,113mt in February 2020. However, its imports rose by 61pc from 1,160mt in January.
Ferrous scrap imports from Japan halved in February to 72,106mt from 144,827mt in the same month last year and remained flat from the previous month. Canada’s shipments to Taiwan, on the other hand, increased by 26pc to 10,735mt last month from 8,505mt in February 2020 but declined by 39pc compared to 17,598mt shipped in January.
Other major ferrous scrap exporters to Taiwan included the Dominican Republic, Australia, and Hong Kong.
Copper scrap shipments from China, the second-largest exporter to Taiwan, more than doubled to 888mt in February from 384mt in the same month last year but declined by 35pc from 1,358mt in the previous month. Thailand exported 783mt of copper scrap to Taiwan last month, down 4pc from 814mt in February 2020 and 43pc from 1,372mt in January.
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia were among other key copper scrap exporting nations to Taiwan last month.