The United States reduced the export of ferrous scrap

Turkey, the largest importer of US scrap metal, cut purchases by more than one-fifth in 2016.

The latest data released by the US Bureau of Statistics and the International Trade Commission show a decrease in the supply of ferrous scrap outside the country during the year 2016. US scrap metal exports are down 4% year-on-year to 11.233 million tonnes last year. The country exported 11.696 million tons of ferrous scrap throughout 2015. Among the largest export destinations for scrap metal, only Mexico recorded an increase in purchases during the year.

Turkey reduced its imports of US ferrous scrap to 3.123 million tonnes, accounting for almost 28% of total US exports during the year. Turkey imported 3.961 million tons during 2015. South Korea's imports recorded a 19.5% year-on-year decline. The import of this country amounted to 829.414 tons. Taiwan imports also declined 3.3% from the previous year, with a total of 1.237 million tonnes in 2016. India's US scrap imports fell 0.4% to 1.011 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, purchases of Mexico's scrap metal from the United States rose 29.3% in 2016 to 1.384 million tonnes. China imported 432,273 tonnes of scrap steel from the United States, up 14.2% from imports during 2015. Bangladesh's imports from the US climbed significantly, almost 140%, to 292,953 tons in 2016. The country's imports from the United States totaled only 122,414 tons in 2015.