The value of metal scrap imported into Mexico increased 27.6 percent, year-over-year, in February, totaling $113 million. It is the first time in 30 years that imports exceeded $100 million in February.
In the January-February period, imports totaled $196 million, 14.8 percent more than in the same period in 2022. This amount is also the highest for the first two months of a year in the last 30 years.
The export of scrap from the Mexican market decreased for the fifth time in annual comparison in February 2023, decreasing 19.5 percent, year-over-year, totaling $31.2 million.
The contraction in the export of metal scrap from Mexico began in October 2022, with the presidential order of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to prohibit the export of metal and aluminum scrap, as a measure of his anti-inflationary plan.
Although the federal government modified its anti-inflation plan, the Mexican foreign trade regulator, the Ministry of Economy headed by Raquel Buenrostro Sanchez has failed to respond to requests for information on the status of the ban or release of scrap exports.
In October 2022, with the ban, exports decreased in annual variation 23.4 percent, in November they plummeted 44.8 percent, in December they fell 31.4 percent, in January 2023 they decreased 29.7 percent and in February the drop was 19.5 percent.