US exports of aluminum scrap fell by 22pc in May 2020 with global demand for aluminum slumping as most automotive and aerospace firms remained shut through a large part of the month.
Aluminum scrap exports declined to 122,608mt in May compared with 157,390mt a year earlier, as exports of material other than used aluminum beverage cans (UBCs) or remelt scrap ingot (RSI) fell by 0.5pc to 114,334mt, according to the latest data from the US Census Bureau.
Exports to China were 28,380mt, while volumes to South Korea stood at 22,322mt. Malaysia was the largest importer from the US at 29,821mt.
US UBC exports fell 95pc in May to 7,208mt, down from 154,808mt a year earlier. RSI exports, on the other hand, were up six times from 152mt in May 2019 to 1,065mt in May 2020. Aluminum scrap exports other than UBC and RSI rose 46 times to 114,334mt from the prior-year period.
Year-to-date US exports of aluminum scrap were down, falling by 9.2pc to 705,547mt in the first five months of the year.
Most other nonferrous scrap exports dropped in May, with copper declining 23.9pc to 58,811mt from a year earlier, lead stayed flat at 5,761mt and zinc was down by 57pc at 1,236mt. US exports of nickel scrap saw a decrease of 78.7pc to 1,760mt over the same month in the previous year.