SEOUL: As per the most recent data, the ferrous scrap imports by South Korea during the month of June this year dropped sharply over the previous year. However, imports climbed higher when matched with the previous month. Also, the scrap imports by the country during the initial half of the current year declined when compared with the imports during the corresponding period a year ago.
The country’s total scrap imports during June this year amounted to 571,000 tons. The imports were down 5.7% when compared with the same month a year ago. South Korean scrap imports had totaled 606,000 tons during June last year. However, scrap imports during June ’15 surged significantly higher by nearly 23% when compared with the imports of 464,000 tons during May this year.
During June ‘15, Japan was the largest scrap exporter to South Korea. The scrap imports from Japan totaled 350,000 tons, accounting for more than 61% of the country’s total scrap imports. The scrap imports from Japan dropped by 13.5% year-on-year.
The second largest exporter of scrap to South Korea was Russia. The scrap imports by the country from Russia totaled 100,000 tons, increasing by 17% when compared with the previous year imports.
The cumulative scrap imports by South Korea during the initial six-month period during the year totaled 2.77 million tons, 35.5% lesser when compared with the imports during the corresponding six-month period in 2014. The country had imported 4.295 million tons of ferrous scrap during January to June in 2014.
The scrap imports by South Korea are estimated to total around 5.55 million tons during the entire year 2015.
