Aluminium scrap exports by U.S. up 11.6% in the first three quarters of 2018; export to China continues to drop

According to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from US Geological Survey, the U.S. exports of aluminium scrap, which is not included in the government’s consumption statistics, stood at 141,000 tonnes in September 2018, up 11per cent from September 2017 total of 127,000 tonnes. Month on month, aluminium scrap export dropped about 3% from the August export volume of 148,000 tonnes. Total scrap exports stood at 1.25 million tonnes in the first three quarters of 2018, up about 11.6 per cent from 1.12 million tonnes in the same period of 2017. 

The US export to China in September 2018 stood at 25,700 tonnes, down 62% from September 2017 volume of 67,500 tonnes. While month on month the volume has registered a slight drop from the August 2018 volume of 26,900 tonnes.  YoY, the volume drops significantly, mostly driven by China’s counter tariff of 20% and 25% on aluminium scraps from the US.

Total aluminium recovered from scrap in September 2018 was 308,000 tonnes, essentially unchanged from that in August 2018, slightly more than the amount recovered in September 2017. Of this, 177,000 tonnes of aluminium was recovered from new scrap and 131,000 tonnes was recovered from old scrap.

Out of the total scrap purchased, the U.S. imported 54,400 tonnes of aluminium scrap in September, down from 62,500 tonnes in August. For the first three quarters of 2018, the country imported 532,000 tonnes of scrap. That indicates the largest amount of scrap is procured domestically.

Data shows China’s tariffs on scrap import from the  U.S. has not affected the total export volume significantly in the first three quarters of 2018. YTD scrap export volume continues to grow in coparison to YTD 2017. Month on month export shows a decline of about 3%.