Saudi Arabia’s aluminium scrap exports to continue rising in H1 2018; India remains the top importer

Saudi Arabia’s export of aluminium scrap has been on an uptrend from past several years. The country emerged as the major market for scrap metal recycling. Aluminium scrap represents 6.1 per cent of the total exports of Saudi Arabia.  Most of the aluminium scraps generated in Saudi Arabia are from consumers, industries, and demolition sites across the country.

The country exports considerable amount of aluminium scrap to India. India alone imported 123365 tonnes of aluminium scrap from Saudi Arabia in 2017, according to recent statistics. Other major countries where Saudi Arabia exports its aluminium scraps include Brazil, UAE, Pakistan, Greece and Belgium among others.

As per global export-import data, Saudi Arabia is estimated to export 102685 tonnes of aluminium scrap in the half of 2018, up from 74388 tonnes of aluminium scrap in the same period previous year. In the second half of the year, the total export volume is projected to increase further. In H2 2018, the country is estimated to export 104341 tonnes of aluminium scrap, up from 78982 tonnes in the corresponding period previous year.

Saudi Arabia is estimated to generate revenue of US$ 177.6 million from the export of aluminium scrap in H1 2018, from US$ 0.9 million in H1 2017.  In H2 2018, the revenue is estimated to stand at US$ 203.8 million, from US$ 1.7 million in the corresponding period previous year.