The EU increased its scrap exports by 6.7% y/y in January-April

According to Eurostat data, EU companies specializing in ferrous scrap operations increased their exports of raw materials to third countries by 6.7% in January-April 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, reaching 5.852 million tons.

More than 70% of total exports went to Turkey – 4.098 million tons (+19.1% y-o-y). Other major consumers of raw materials include:

• Egypt – 352,220 tons (-46.5% y/y);
• India – 322,160 tons (+44% y/y);
• Pakistan – 188,560 tons (+1.7% y/y).

These four countries account for 85% of EU scrap exports.

In April 2025, the EU exported 1.285 million tons of ferrous scrap, down 3.1% compared to April 2024 and 19.9% m/m. These are the lowest export volumes since September last year.

In April, the company supplied 994.35 thsd tonnes of raw materials to Uretsk consumers (+25.1% y/y, -14.7% m/m), 71.55 thsd tonnes to Indian consumers (-14.8% y/y, -3.2% m/m). tons (-14.8% y/y, -3.2% m/m), to Egypt – 156.4 tons (-99.9% y/y, -99.8% m/m), and to Pakistan – 26.27 thousand tons (-50.9% y/y, -31% m/m). Thus, during the month, there was a slowdown in demand for European scrap in the Middle East and South Asia. Egypt has almost completely stopped imports from the EU, although in the last two years the monthly supply has not fallen below 48 thousand tons.

The largest scrap exporters in January-April were: the Netherlands – 1.46 million tons (+48.5% y/y), Belgium – 851,670 tons (-8.4% y/y), Poland – 465,860 tons (+41.8% y/y), Germany – 433,780 tons t (+9.6% y/y), Denmark – 398.53 thousand tons (+0.9% y/y).

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2024, scrap metal exports from the European Union to third countries decreased by 10.8% compared to 2023 – to 16.72 million tons. In 2023, the figure grew by 7% y/y, to 18.7 million tons, and in 2022, it fell by 10% y/y, to 17.6 million tons – for the first time after more than six years of upward trend.

Steel production in the EU in 2024 increased by 2.6% y/y – to 129.5 million tons. Global steel output fell by 0.9% y/y – to 1.84 billion tons.