South Korea’s copper scrap, aluminium scrap and stainless steel scrap imports dropped by 21pc, 3pc and 17pc, respectively, in May from May 2019.
The US continued to be the top exporter of copper and aluminium scrap to South Korea, which has now become the preferred destination for US scrap exports after India’s demand dropped significantly due to COVID-19 related shutdowns. The US exported 6,799mt of copper scrap and 23,530mt of aluminium scrap, up by 15pc and 6pc, respectively, from May 19.
South Korea looked towards neighbouring markets like Indonesia and Japan for copper scrap after exports from the UAE and Saudi Arabia dropped by 82pc and 80pc, respectively as Middle Eastern countries chose to supply to their domestic markets for quicker economic revival. South Korea’s copper scrap imports from Indonesia and Japan rose by 100pc and 92pc, respectively, in May from the prior-year period.
| South Korea scrap imports | May-20 | May-19 | % change |
| Copper scrap | 22,636 | 28,529 | -21% |
| US | 6,799 | 5,902 | 15% |
| Indonesia | 1,515 | 759 | 100% |
| Japan | 1,403 | 730 | 92% |
| Aluminium scrap | 73,998 | 76,065 | -3% |
| US | 23,530 | 22,152 | 6% |
| Japan | 9,621 | 6,926 | 39% |
| Thailand | 5,833 | 8,581 | -32% |
| Stainless steel scrap | 17,572 | 21,253 | -17% |
| Thailand | 6,127 | 6,186 | -1% |
| Japan | 4,674 | 9,858 | -53% |
| US | 2,934 | 960 | 206% |