Aluminum scrap exports from the US increased by 40pc to 174,290mt in April compared with 53,677mt a year earlier, according to the latest US Census Bureau data.
Used beverage can (UBC) shipments stood at 22,773mt in March, up four times compared with 4,215mt a year ago. Export batches also consisted of 4,447mt of remelt scrap ingots (RSI), up four times as well. Shipments of other scrap aluminum increased by 23pc to 147,069mt from a year ago. This segment mostly consists of non-ferrous zorba and old sheet aluminum.
Mexico was the largest importer in April, accepting 16,714mt of aluminum scrap with South Korea and Hong Kong following at 10,340mt and 9,773mt, respectively.
Other US nonferrous scrap exports rose in April as well, with copper up 37.7pc to 73,506mt from a year earlier while zinc scrap exports increased by 108pc to 3,254mt. Nickel shipments fell by 26.7pc while lead was flat from the prior-year period.