The UK’s exports of stainless steel scrap to Finland surged to 11,493mt in November, from 10mt in the prior year, as Indonesia announced a ban on nickel exports from Jan 2020. Finland was the largest importer of stainless steel scrap from the UK in the month.
Stainless steel mills like Outokumpu in Finland stocked up on stainless steel feed stock after Indonesia announced a ban on exports of nickel in September. The European Union launched a dispute in the World Trade Organisation against Indonesia’s nickel export ban in November as well. In Jan-Nov 19, the UK exported 31,464mt of stainless steel scrap to Finland, up from 91mt from the same period prior year.
The UK exported a total of 42,840mt of stainless steel scrap in Nov 19, down by 95mt from a year ago. The UK’s exports from Jan-Nov 19, however, were up by 40.9pc or 104,588mt from 255,645mt in the prior year period.
Pakistan was the second largest importer of stainless steel scrap from the UK in Nov 19, and imported 7,010mt of stainless steel scrap, up by 166pc or 4,379mt from a year ago. India, the world’s top importer of stainless steel scrap, imported 5,230mt from UK in Nov 19, down by 7pc from a year ago.
In the Jan-Nov 19 period, however, Bangladesh became the top importer from the UK and imported 93,836mt of stainless steel scrap, up by 114.5pc or 50,087mt from a year ago. India’s imports from the UK fell from 76,690mt in Jan-Nov 18, to 56,108mt in 2019.
The UK is the fourth largest stainless steel scrap exporter in the world, and the third largest exporter from Europe after Germany and Netherlands.