According to Mining News Pro -China increases ferrous scrap usage by 41% - In the first six months of 2018, there was a 41% increase in steel scrap usage for crude steel production in China to 87.7 MnT, as per data compiled by BIR. This compares to 62.2 MnT in the same period of 2017 and underlines China’s position as the world’s largest steel scrap user.
The reason for this sharp increase is that the Chinese government has established stricter environmental quality standards and thereby higher pollutant emission standards for the steel industry. To meet these new thresholds and in order to avoid production restrictions, most BOF mills have actively increased their scrap input, with their steel scrap/crude steel ratio said to have been 20-25%. In addition, many new EAFs are being installed or are in the pipeline for the near future. As a result, further investments in steel scrap processing are planned, especially in shredder capacity.
In H1 CY18, steel scrap usage for crude steel production also increased in the USA (+3.9% to 23.7 MnT), Japan (+3.6% to 18.493 MnT), Turkey (+4.9% to 15.882 MnT) and Russia (+11.1% to 11.398 MnT). Steel scrap consumption in the EU-28 was almost unchanged (-0.3% to 47.964 MnT) whereas there was a pronounced decrease in steel scrap usage in the Republic of Korea (-3.2% to 14.973 MnT).
India`s ferrous scrap imports also recorded increase and stood at 2.41 MnT in H1 CY18, up 8% Y-o-Y. India imports around 5 MnT ferrous scrap annually and domestic scrap generation is around 10-15 MnT.
Country-wise ferrous scrap consumption in world`s crude steel production in H1 2018 -
| Steel Scrap Consumption | Crude Steel Production |
Country | H1-2018 | H1-2017 | % Y-o-Y Change | H1-2018 | H1-2017 | % Y-o-Y Change |
China | 87.7 | 62.2 | 41.00% | 451.157 | 425.42 | 6.05% |
EU-28 | 47.964 | 48.101 | -0.28% | 87.337 | 85.998 | 1.56% |
USA | 23.7 | 22.8 | 3.95% | 41.849 | 40.677 | 2.88% |
Japan | 18.493 | 17.85 | 3.60% | 52.98 | 52.324 | 1.25% |
Turkey | 15.882 | 15.133 | 4.95% | 18.893 | 18.215 | 3.72% |
Korea Republic | 14.973 | 15.463 | -3.17% | 36.066 | 34.794 | 3.66% |
Russia | 11.398 | 10.26 | 11.09% | 36.264 | 35.483 | 2.20% |
http://www.miningnewspro.com/en/News/287115/World`s Major Countries Increased Steel Scrap Consumption in H1 CY18