China’s scrap consumption in the first nine months of 2022 was 6.7 percent lower year on year at 170.83 million mt, though China remained the world’s largest scrap user, according to a report by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR). The country’s crude steel production decreased by 3.4 percent year on year in the given period.
According to the report, the EU-27 regained its position as the world’s leading steel scrap exporter when viewed over the first nine months of last year, despite a 9.1 percent year-on-year decline in shipped volumes to 13.26 million mt. In the given period, scrap exports from the US declined by 6.5 percent year on year to 13.04 million mt.
In 2022, the ferrous scrap market in Japan hit its highest level since 2008, with prices kept elevated by the depreciation of the yen to its lowest level against the US dollar. Not least because of significant steel production cuts in Vietnam, Japanese ferrous scrap exports slid 13.6 percent last year to 6.31 million mt, the first time the annual total had fallen below seven million mt since the 5.44 million mt recorded in 2011.
The more positive market conditions at the start of 2023 build on the optimism generated by the Chinese government’s launch of additional stimulus measures, including a move away from its strict zero-Covid policy.
Meanwhile, it seems certain that there will be significant market repercussions, as Turkey has long been the world’s largest scrap importer. In early February, scrap market activity in Turkey has largely stalled as priority is given to the humanitarian needs created by the recent earthquakes.