Germany’s scrap exports, imports continue to fall

Exports of ferrous scrap from Germany continued to decrease in January-November 2022, show data from the German federal statistics office.

The volume amounted to 7.2 million tonnes, down by 11% on the 11 months of 2021, Kallanish notes.

However, total export value increased from €4.2 billion ($4.6 billion) to €4.6 billion, thus reflecting the increase in steel scrap prices compared to the previous year, according to market observers.

The main target country is traditionally the Netherlands, but exports to this destination fell even more significantly, by 16% to 1.48mt. To Italy, the second-largest buyer country, 11-month exports dropped by 13% to 1.35mt.

Turkey is the most important customer outside the EU. German direct exports here totalled 624,000t, down by 5% on-year in January-November.

However, the surge continued in deliveries to India, which at 173,134t were up 171% on-year.

On the import side, the federal statistics office reports a 14% drop to 4mt, worth €2.1 billion. The most important trading partner here was also the Netherlands, which provided 874,566t, down by 4% on-year.

The second-largest supplier was Czech Republic with 746,043t, down 16%, and third-largest was Poland with 602,652t, down by 19% on-year.

German scrap prices are expected to increase in January amid new demand and exports (see Kallanish passim).

The 30-40% increase in rail freight prices in Germany from 1 January will inevitably have an impact on scrap trade.

Earlier, German steel recyclers federation BDSV urged for more scrap transport by rail due to logistics problems on road and waterway routes in Germany (see Kallanish passim).

Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria