India’s ferrous scrap imports are likely to see a significant over 30% decline to ~7 million tonnes (mnt) in financial year 2024-25 (FY’25) compared to 10 mnt in the previous fiscal, as per BigMint’s analysis. Data reveals, ferrous scrap as a feedstock will be lower this year owing to higher hot metal and DRI production. It is projected that scrap consumption in the current fiscal will be at 37 mnt against the almost 39 mnt seen in FY’24. Scrap usage in steel-making in particular is expected to drop to 31 mnt in FY’25 from 33.5 mnt in FY’24, while foundry usage will remain more or less stable at around 5.5 mnt. Interestingly, even while India’s scrap consumption is seen falling in FY’25, DRI consumption is set to rise to 54 mnt from the current 50 mnt in this period, while pig iron intake may dip slightly to 6 mnt from the present 7 mnt.
