BIR Ferrous Division:

3rd Edition of “World Steel Recycling in Figures”

The BIR Ferrous Division today announces during its meeting in Rome the publication of the 3rd edition of “World Steel Recycling in Figures”.

This important compilation of statistics on the global ferrous scrap markets has enjoyed tremendous success since it appeared for the first time in 2010.

Divisional President Christian Rubach says the Ferrous Division is aware of the importance of reliable figures and will strive to continue publishing these statistics on a yearly and also a quarterly basis.

Rolf Willeke, Statistics Advisor of the BIR Ferrous Division, summarises below the main news and findings contained in this report, which covers the five-year period between 2007 and 2011: 

• The new report contains a total of 31 graphs and tables, five more than its predecessor.
• Global steel scrap use as a raw material for steelmaking increased to around 570m tonnes in 2011 - a new record. At the same time, steel scrap purchases by steelworks worldwide increased to an all-time high of 370m tonnes.
• Global annual scrap use in iron and steel foundries has amounted to between 56m and 76m tonnes in recent years.
• The information in the report has been extended to include figures for scrap consumption and external/internal scrap exports of the EU-27 countries.
• In 2011, global trade in steel scrap was particularly influenced by the USA as the world’s leading exporter and by Turkey as its top importer.
• The increase in Turkey’s overseas purchases to 21.5m tonnes in 2011 enabled the country to reinforce its position as the world’s leading importer.
• America’s steel scrap exports jumped to 24.4m tonnes in 2011. With this huge leap, the USA maintained its position as the world’s leading exporter of steel scrap.
• For the two biggest exporters, the USA and the EU-27, special charts have been developed to show the main flows of steel scrap.
• Finally, market developments in 2011 highlight the important role of high-quality recycled scrap to the raw materials supply of the iron and steel industry worldwide and underline the need for a free raw materials market.