South Korea’s ferrous scrap imports dropped by 38pc to 351,322mt in June 2020 from 566,925mt in the prior year period. However, ferrous scrap imports rose by 3pc compared to May 2020.
Japan was the top exporter of ferrous scrap into South Korea in June with exports of 261,443mt, down by 18.05pc from the prior year period.
South Korean steelmakers had halted production due to sharp fall in the domestic demand. Moreover, ferrous scrap inventory levels with all the major steelmakers like Hyundai Steel and Dongkuk Steel remained high, while domestic scrap prices remained low.
Japanese exporters offered material at competitive prices resulting in Korean companies preferring imports from Japan.
The second largest supplier was the US followed by Russia, who exported 19,315mt and 55,874mt of ferrous scrap to South Korea, down by 86.82pc and 3.41pc, respectively, from a year ago.