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Who buys the United States’ iron and steel scrap? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, the United States exported $6.1 billion of iron and steel scrap (14.4 million tonnes), 13.9% of the world total. Its main destinations were Turkey (31%), India (13%) and Mexico (12%). The United States was the world’s largest exporter of iron and steel scrap.

Summary

Value
$6.1billion
Tonnes
14.4million tonnes
Share of world total
13.9%
World rank
1st
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
Turkey1.9Tonnes: 4,532,936USD per tonne: $41831%Sea
India0.78Tonnes: 1,373,396USD per tonne: $56712.7%Sea
Mexico0.76Tonnes: 1,816,481USD per tonne: $41812.4%Sea
Bangladesh0.66Tonnes: 1,843,065USD per tonne: $35610.7%Sea
Taiwan0.52Tonnes: 1,181,362USD per tonne: $4388.5%Sea
Peru0.27Tonnes: 670,841USD per tonne: $4044.4%Sea
Canada0.21Tonnes: 705,825USD per tonne: $2963.4%Sea
Vietnam0.18Tonnes: 510,628USD per tonne: $3472.9%Sea
Thailand0.16Tonnes: 490,574USD per tonne: $3342.7%Sea
Pakistan0.12Tonnes: 323,865USD per tonne: $3591.9%Sea
Italy0.09Tonnes: 171,079USD per tonne: $5081.4%Sea
South Korea0.08Tonnes: 122,396USD per tonne: $6781.4%Sea
Greece0.07Tonnes: 181,087USD per tonne: $3971.2%Sea
Egypt0.07Tonnes: 182,003USD per tonne: $3821.1%Sea
Netherlands re-exports0.07Tonnes: 42,900USD per tonne: $1,6111.1%Sea
Malaysia0.04Tonnes: 69,555USD per tonne: $5470.62%Sea
Hong Kong re-exports0.03Tonnes: 18,372USD per tonne: $1,7930.54%Sea
Ecuador0.02Tonnes: 48,884USD per tonne: $3980.32%Sea
Spain0.01Tonnes: 10,195USD per tonne: $1,4620.24%Sea
China0.01Tonnes: 9,862USD per tonne: $1,3740.22%Sea

Trend

Who it sells to

Turkey has been its main destination since 2005

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • Turkey 1.9
  • India 0.78
  • Mexico 0.76
  • Bangladesh 0.66
  • Taiwan 0.52

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
Turkey0.261.9
India0.160.78
Mexico0.130.76
Bangladesh< 0.010.66
Taiwan0.030.52

Sources and methodology

Other products of this country

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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