Aluminum exports dip; China, Korea still top

New York: South Korea's surging demand for US aluminum scrap in January was a one-month phenomenon, according to the US Commerce Department's statistics for Feberary, although the decline to 15.691 short tons from 20,457 tons still leaves Korea in second place behind China.

The grand total dipped 5.5 percent to 110,292 tons from 116,728 ton in January, but that largely reflected the shortness of the month.

China(including Hong Kong) took 55 percent of US aluminum scrap exports in February, up from 52 percent the previous month but well below its 2006 annual ratio of 64 percent.

The reported value of February's export shipments averaged 88.7 cents a pound, up marginally from 88.5 cents the previous month and 24 percent ahead of 71.5 cents in February last year.

The top four destinations in February, receiving nearyly 90 percent of the total, were China, Korea, Canada and Taiwan. Following them in the rankings were Mexico, Japan, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Kenya.