For the first five months of 2018 (January-May), Taiwan imported 1.32 million mt of steel scrap. Of the total, 0.63 million mt was from the US (48 percent), 0.14 million mt from Japan (11 percent), 0.09 million mt from Australia (7 percent), 0.06 million mt from Hong Kong (5 percent), 0.05 million mt from Dominican Republic (4 percent), 0.05 million from Canada (4 percent), and 0.30 million from other sources (23 percent).
According to custom data, Taiwan imported 0.41 million mt of scrap in the first two months of 2018 with 54 percent from the US, or 0.22 million mt. The US-sourced amount declined to 48 percent for the five-month period.
At the monthly average rate of 0.264 million mt for the first five months of the year, Taiwan may import 3.17 million mt for the 2018 calendar year, potentially 19 percent higher than the 2.67 million mt of scrap Taiwan imported in 2017. In 2017, 43 percent was sourced from the US.