SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The U.S. exports of copper waste and scrap surged higher by 16% during the entire year 2018 to total $3.18 billion, says the latest data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. The exports had totaled only $2.76 billion in 2017. The exports by value totaled $254.82 million for the month of December 2018 alone.

In 2018, the top five trade partners were China, South Korea, Canada, Japan and Malaysia. The exports to China totaled $1.08 billion, accounting for nearly 34% of the total U.S. exports. The exports to that country dropped significantly by nearly 37% over the previous year. The shipments to South Korea skyrocketed by 154% to $338.48 million. The copper scrap imports by Canada increased by almost 18% year-on-year to total $336.02 million. The exports to Japan and Malaysia totaled $222.74 million and $210.42 million.

The combined exports to the above five markets totaled $2.19 billion, accounting for nearly 69% of all copper waste and scrap exports from the U.S.

The imports of copper waste and scrap registered marginal jump during the previous year. The imports were up by 0.72% to total $765.59 million during 2018. It must be noted that the imports were valued at $760.1 million during 2017. The U.S. monthly imports of copper scrap totaled $52.24 million in December last year.

The top exporter of copper waste and scrap to the US was Canada. The imports from Canada totaled $496.84 million. The imports from the Mexico and Venezuela totaled $193.46 million and $15.65 million respectively.