According to the Korean Customs Department, the country’s scrap steel imports increased by 17 percent in the Jan-April period of this year compared to the same period a year ago.
Japan, Russia and the US were the top three scrap exporters to South Korea providing 90 percent of the total imported scrap. Japan led with exports of 1.308 million mt (65 percent), Russia with 287,000 mt (14 percent), and the US with 221,000 mt (11 percent).
Customs data indicated that during the same reporting period in 2016, Japanese scrap exports to Korea surged higher by 22 percent over the previous year and Russian scrap exports to Korea increased by 13 percent; in contrast, US scrap exports to Korea declined by more than 13 percent.
In April, Korean scrap import volumes declined sharply month-over-month and year-on-year. It was the second straight month of decline for scrap imports by the country after reaching a 15-month high in February 2017.
*Total provided is accurate, but a variance versus the sum in monthly terms exists due to rounding in monthly data available.
| Scrap imports, South Korea | 2017 | 2016 |
| Jan | 484,900 mt | 394,700 mt |
| Feb | 577,000 mt | 364,500 mt |
| Mar | 541,000 mt | 487,800 mt |
| Apr | 425,000 mt | 485,000 mt |
| 4 month total | 2.026 mill mt* | 1.732 mill mt |