World scrap metal consumption in January-June 2022 fell by 8.4% y/y

The negative trend in demand for scrap is supported by the decline in global steel production

The world consumption of scrap metal in January-June 2022 decreased by 8.4% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 248.79 million tons. Eurometal reports about it with the reference to data from the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR).

The negative trend in demand for scrap is supported by the decline in global steel production. In January-June 2022r, world steel production decreased by 5.5% y/y – to 949.4 million tons.

China, the largest consumer of steel scrap, reduced its scrap consumption in the first half of 2022 by 13.8% y/y – to 119.55 million tons. At the same time, the share of scrap used in the production of unrefined steel decreased to 22.7%.

In the European Union – the second largest consumer of scrap metal – the consumption of recycled materials decreased to 3.2% – to 43.86 million tons. At the same time, the demand for scrap metal in the USA decreased by 3% y/y in January-June 2022 – to 22.5 million tons.

Scrap consumption in Turkiye decreased by 3% y/y in the first half of the year – to 12.48 million tons, although the use of steel recycling was high and amounted to 87.1%.

According to the BIR, Turkiye remains the leading importer of steel scrap in the world. The main suppliers of scrap metal to the country are the USA – 2.23 million tons, the Netherlands – 1.16 million tons, and the UK  – 1.13 million tons.

The second-largest scrap importer South Korea imported 2.72 million tons of scrap metal in the first half of 2022, which is 29.1% more than in the same period last year. Deliveries from Japan amounted to 1.7 million tons, the United States – to 399,000 tons, and Russia – to 226,000 tons.

India imported 2.67 million tons of scrap, which is 0.3% more than in January-June 2021. The largest suppliers are the UAE, the USA and Singapore.

The largest exporter of scrap metal in January-June 2022 was the USA. Despite the reduction in supplies by 5.6% y/y, to 8.87 million tons, the country is the largest supplier of scrap metal for the first time since 2014.

During this period, the export of scrap from the EU fell by 23.9% compared to January-June 2021 – to 8.5 million tons. The largest exporter in the region was the Netherlands – 1.82 million tons (-35.8% y/y).

The UK shipped 4.1 million tons of scrap in six months, which is 0.8% less than in the same period of 2021.

As GMK Center reported earlier, as of October 17, 2022 scrap prices in Turkiye decreased by $3/t compared to the previous week – to $365-370/t. Thus, scrap quotations returned to the decline after three weeks of growth.

The world consumption of scrap metal in steel production in 2021 increased to 620 million tons. Over the year, the share of scrap in steel producing increased to 32%, while in 2019 it was 30%, and in 2020, at the height of the pandemic – 29%.