India overtook South Korea to emerge as Asia's largest ferrous scrap importer, with its 2019 figures at 7.05 million mt, growing by as much as 11% year on year, provisional figures from the department of commerce showed on Wednesday.

In contrast, South Korea imported 6.50 million mt in the same period, posting a growth of 1.7% from 2018.

UAE-origins topped the list into India, with 1.15 million mt in the year, edging down by 0.6% from a year ago.

UK-origins were in second place at 0.87 million mt, up by 25% from 2018, while US-origins came in third at 0.77 million mt, up 9.3% from a year ago.

India's location was cited by trading sources to be advantageous as the country is central to scrap sources globally, across US, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Pan Pacific.

-- Samuel Chin