Pakistan’s ferrous scrap imports dropped by 42.65pc to 373,854mt in December from 533,321mt in the prior year, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Pakistan’s scrap imports in December rose 12pc from 333,167mt in November amid lowered global scrap prices.
In December, Pakistan steel and iron imports including, main products like HRC and rebar, were at 179,434mt down from 232,130mt in the prior year and 195,250mt in the prior month. Low domestic steel demand resulted in a drop in imports of steel products and ferrous scrap in December.
The steel industry in Pakistan continued to face the challenges of currency devaluation, low cash flow, low-priced smuggled steel from Iran and Afghanistan and delayed starts of new construction projects, said a Karachi based steelmaker.
In July-Dec 2019 period, imports of ferrous scrap were at 2,061,503mt, down by 20pc from 2,590,380mt the prior year period. Imports of steel & iron fell to 1,129,382mt, down 31pc from 1,641,239mt in the prior year.
In Jan-Oct 2019 period, Pakistan imported 3.308mn mt of ferrous scrap, down from 5.011mn mt in the prior year. Ferrous scrap imports from the UK were the highest at 767,951mt, with a 23pc market share, followed by the UAE and the US at 588,779mt and 418,247mt, respectively.