NEW DELHI: The scrap steel imports by India during the month of January 2016 increased sharply when compared with same month the previous year. However, the imports were down when matched with the month before. This is in accordance with the official government data released yesterday.
According to trade data, India’s scrap imports totaled 639,000 tons in Jan ‘16. This is higher by 15.1% when compared with the imports during the same month a year before. The country’s scrap imports had totaled 555,000 tons during January last year. Month-on-month, scrap steel imports by the country have dropped by 22.7% in the first month of the current year. India’s scrap steel imports had totaled 564,000 tons during December 2015.
During Jan ‘16, the United States of America (USA) was the main exporter of scrap to India. The scrap imports from the US totaled nearly 114,000 tons, accounting for nearly 18% of the total imports by India during the month. The scrap imports from the US during January this year surged higher by 121.2% when compared with the same month in previous year.
The second largest source of scrap imports by India was the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The scrap imports from the UAE during the month totaled 94,000 tons, up marginally by over 8.7% when compared with the previous year. The scrap imports from the UAE constituted nearly 15% of the total Indian imports during Jan ’16.
The UK was the third largest ferrous scrap exporter to India during the month. The scrap imports from the country increased by 5% during the month. The scrap steel imports from the UK totaled 83,000 tons during Jan ‘16. The scrap imports by the country from South Africa totaled 45,000 tons during the initial month of the year. The imports from the country dropped sharply by over 42% when compared with the previous year.
