Aluminum scrap exports from the US increased by 16pc to 992,871mt in January-June 2021 compared with 855,560mt in H1 2020 according to the latest data from the US Census Bureau. In June, exports increased by 5.8pc to 158,773mt against 150,102mt in the same month of 2020.
Used beverage can (UBC) shipments stood at 22,007mt in June, up 110pc compared with 10,462mt a year ago. The US also shipped 5,092mt of remelt scrap ingots (RSI), 75pc of which was destined for Mexico. Shipments of other scrap aluminum tallied at 131,773mt, down 2.5pc from a year ago. This segment mostly consists of old sheet aluminum (Taint/Tabor), old cast (Tense), and non-ferrous zorba.
Malaysia emerged as the largest importer of US aluminum scrap in June, accepting 27,459mt in shipments. Mexico followed at 12,938mt and India was the third-largest importer at 9,974mt.
Among other non-ferrous metals, US copper scrap exports rose by 24.2pc in June to 77,349mt from a year earlier while zinc scrap exports jumped by 122pc to 3,199mt. Nickel shipments fell by 19pc while lead declined by 18pc in June from the prior-year period.