Thailand’s ferrous scrap imports from the US dropped to 9,719.6mt in March, down by 74pc from February and down by 87pc from a year ago as yards hiked offers on strong domestic outlook and high freight charges. A shortage of empty containers in the USWC also reduced trades.
In March, Thailand’s ferrous scrap imports fell to 123,532mt down less than a percent from February and down by 31 from March 2020. The top three exporters to Thailand more than doubled their exports from February. In March, Japan’s exports rose to 12,319mt, Trinidad & Tobago 12,305mt and Australia 11,595mt.
| Thailand ferrous scrap import in March | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit: mt | Mar-21 | Feb-21 | Change MoM | Mar-20 | Change YoY |
| Japan | 12,319 | 5,365 | 130% | 20,633 | -40% |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 12,305 | 5,718 | 115% | 6,520 | 89% |
| Australia | 11,595 | 4,692 | 147% | 12,682 | -9% |
| United States | 9,720 | 37,841 | -74% | 73,049 | -87% |
| Panama | 9,152 | 10,629 | -14% | 13,106 | -30% |
| Puerto Rico | 7,082 | 3,909 | 81% | 7,604 | -7% |
| Dominican Republic | 5,589 | 819 | 583% | 3,277 | 71% |
| South Korea | 4,879 | 4,114 | 19% | 2,225 | 119% |
| Brunei | 4,596 | 500 | 819% | – | 100% |
| Others | 46,295 | 49,440 | -6% | 40,128 | 15% |
| Total | 1,23,532 | 1,23,026 | 0.41% | 1,79,224 | -31% |
Steel consumption in Thailand in both domestic and export-based industries has improved in Q1 (January-March) on the back of a revival in the global manufacturing sector. Health demand from the Thai auto sector is supporting steel producers and has boosted the consumption of ferrous scrap. In Q1, ferrous scrap import was 382,459mt, down by 2pc from 391,165mt in Q1 FY2020.