According to the latest figures from the US International Trade Commission, US iron and steel scrap exports totaled 1,248,832 mt in December 2018, a 14.8 percent decrease month-on-month but a 0.9 percent increase year-on-year.
Turkey was the largest recipient of US iron and scrap exports in December with 206,986 mt, down 32.6 percent month-on-month and down 43.9 percent year-on-year. Other notable destinations in December 2018 include: Taiwan, with 191,037 mt; Egypt, with 149,077 mt; Canada, with 103,637 mt; and Mexico, with 91,178 mt.
In terms of value, US iron and steel scrap exports totaled $426.8 million in December 2018, a 0.5 percent increase compared to November and a 0.9 percent increase compared to December 2017.
For the full-year 2018, US iron and steel scrap exports totaled 17,331,653 mt, up 15.7 percent compared to 2017. By value, exports totaled $5.91 billion, up 21.2 percent from 2017.
Turkey was the largest recipient of US iron and steel scrap in 2018, with 3,433,208 mt, down 5.6 percent from 2017. Other top recipients in 2018 were Taiwan, with 1,971,776 mt; Mexico, with 1,820,750 mt; Canada, with 1,409,250 mt; and Vietnam, with 1,022,306 mt.