Dive Brief:
- Scrap metal exports from the United States dropped 4.7% by volume in the first half of 2015 compared to the first half of 2014, according to statistics gathered and summarized by the Journal of Commerce. "In May, scrap metal exports were down a whopping 26.5% year-over-year, after a 1.6% decline in April," the JOC reports.
- Exports are expected to fall more by the end of 2015 if the U.S. dollar remains strong. The group predicts exports could rebound by as much as 8.5% in 2016 if the dollar’s value declines steadily.
- Regarding ferrous scrap, steel mill buyers in Turkey are buying in Russia, where the ruble is weak, and in Ukraine. Taiwan is traditionally the second biggest export for U.S. ferrous scrap, but its share of U.S. purchases fell 32% year-over-year to 14% in the first five months of this year.
Dive Insight:
Scrap metal exports are feeling the pinch as the strong U.S. dollar continues to weigh on all exports.
The JOC reported on a Duke University survey of 1,000 business executives that was released earlier this year, where two out of every three big U.S. exporters — those with at least one-fourth of their total sales overseas — said the appreciation of the dollar has had a negative impact on their businesses.
The decrease reveals a longer-term issue of how U.S. scrap firms plan to transform themselves, as other economies grow enough to need less and less U.S. scrap.
