Global: Steel scrap consumption dips 2% y-o-y in CY’24

• Steel scrap share declines across key nations
• EU, Turkiye show uptick in scrap demand

Global ferrous scrap consumption inched down by 2% y-o-y in CY’24 to 603 million tonnes (mnt) compared to 616 mnt in CY’23, as per data maintained with BigMint.

The drop comes amid a 0.9% fall in global crude steel production. Subdued demand for steel, falling prices of finished products, and weak mill margins pressured steel production globally.

By country, South Korea saw the most significant drop. Its steel scrap consumption fell 14% y-o-y to 22.5 mnt, while crude steel output declined only 4.8%. The United States recorded a 3% y-o-y decline in scrap usage to 55.3 mnt; Japan’s consumption decreased 3.2% to 30.8 mnt, while China saw a 1.9% drop to 209.7 mnt.

In most major producing countries, the decline in scrap consumption outpaced the reduction in crude steel production, indicating a decreasing share of scrap in the steelmaking process.

Conversely, scrap consumption increased in the European Union (EU) and Turkiye. The EU recorded a 1.9% y-o-y rise to 76.6 mnt, while Turkiye’s usage increased by 7.5% y-o-y to 31.3 mnt.

Turkiye also posted the highest scrap usage among major producers, with scrap accounting for 84.8% of its crude steel production. The US followed at 69.2%, the EU at 59.2%, and China at 20.9%.

Meanwhile, the EU remained the world’s largest steel scrap exporter, though exports fell by 11.4% y-o-y to 17 mnt. The US came second, with a 9% y-o-y decline to 14.4 mnt.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between SteelDaily and BigMint.