TAIPEI: According to Taiwan Trade Statistics, the country’s scrap steel imports dropped sharply during the initial six-month period of the current year. The imports during the month of June rebounded when matched with the previous year. Trade participants expect the momentum to sustain in the forthcoming months.
Taiwan’s scrap steel imports surged higher by 23.7% year-on-year to 364,000 tons in June this year. This is when compared with the imports of 294,000 tons in June ’15. The largest exporter of scrap steel to Taiwan during the month was the US. The imports from the US touched the highest level in four months. The imports totaled 145,000 tons accounting for nearly 40% of the total Taiwanese imports during the month. The scrap imports from the US were down 17.7% over the previous year. Taiwan had imported 176,000 tons of steel scrap during June last year. The second largest exporter of scrap steel to Taiwan during the month was Japan. The imports from Japan skyrocketed by nearly 460% year-on-year to 142,000 tons during June ’16.
The cumulative scrap steel imports by the country during the initial half of 2016 totaled 1.657 million tons. The cumulative exports are still down by 28% over the previous year. The country had imported 2.301 million tons of scrap steel during Jan-June ’15. The monthly imports averaged at 276,000 tons so far in 2016. The country’s full year scrap imports are projected to total around 3.31 million tons in 2016.
The Taiwanese scrap imports had made a slow start in 2016. Analysis of quarterly data indicates that the imports picked up significantly in the second quarter. Taiwan’s scrap steel imports during Q2 totaled 1.006 million tons as compared with the imports of 651,000 tons during Q1. According to scrap suppliers, the scrap market demand is likely to go higher. Reports indicate that scrap suppliers are planning to conduct public auction to sell the scrap. The move is expected to address the shortage of scrap availability in the market. This would also ensure that quality scrap enters the market.
The ferrous scrap imports by Taiwan had totaled 650,593 tons during Jan-Mar ’16. The imports were down sharply by 46.9% when matched with the imports of 1.225 million tons during the corresponding three-month period in 2015.
The top exporter of ferrous scrap to Taiwan during Q1 2016 was Japan. The imports from that country had totaled 256,465 tons, accounting for almost 40% of the total imports by Taiwan during the quarter. The imports from Japan declined considerably by 43.7% when compared with the imports of 455,265 tons in Q1 2015.
The US was the second largest exporter of ferrous scrap to Taiwan during the quarter with exports of 238,965 tons, accounting for 36.7% share of Taiwanese imports. The imports dropped nearly 39% over the previous year. The ferrous scrap imports by Taiwan from the US during Jan-Mar ’15 had totaled 391,871 tons.
In third place was Hong Kong with 52,435 tons. The imports from Hong Kong were down by 17.5% year-on-year during the quarter. The other key exporters of ferrous scrap to Taiwan during Q1 were Australia (23,716 tons), Philippines (11,576 tons), Canada (11,043 tons), China (9,412 tons) and Dominican Republic (9,180 tons).
