Page 37 from: December 2012

37December 2012

Ferrous

quarters of 2012 was lower than the
corresponding increase in domestic
crude steel production (+8.4% to
27.153 million tonnes).

Competing commodities
During certain periods of 2012, iron
ore has been subject to relatively rapid
price movements both to the north and
the south. Since our previous report in
early November, and indeed for sev-
eral weeks before that, spot trade in
63.5% Fe content Indian fines has
been conducted within a very narrow
band just above US$ 120 per tonne on
a cfr China basis. The most recent high
point of US$ 124 per tonne was
attained in mid-November, but prices
have subsequently edged lower to
nearer US$ 121 at the time of writing.
Iron ore imports into China totalled
56.43 million tonnes in October, down
13.2% from that recorded in September
but up 13.2% year on year. Volumes
from Australia soared almost 21%
month on month to 27.33 million tonnes
while supplies from Brazil increased
6.6% to 14.68 million tonnes, according
to Chinese customs data. Previously
among the leading shippers of iron ore
to China, India dispatched a mere
268 754 tonnes in September – less than,
for example, Peru and Mongolia.

Steel
World crude steel output headed higher
in October – despite reverses for some

of those countries whose positive per-
formances have underpinned global
production during the course of 2012.
Most notably, Turkey recorded a year-
on-year production drop of almost 7%
to 2.872 million tonnes, the USA post-
ed a decline of 3.3% to 6.918 million
tonnes and South Korea suffered a fall
of 4.9% to an estimated 5.79 million
tonnes. Nevertheless, all three nations
produced more crude steel in the first
10 months of 2012 than in the corre-
sponding period last year: Turkey upped
its output by 6.7% to 30.037 million
tonnes, the USA registered growth of
4.2% to 74.866 million tonnes and
South Korea enjoyed an increase of
2.2% to 57.95 million tonnes, accord-
ing to latest feedback from the World
Steel Association (WSA).
In spite of the numbers given above,
global crude steel production actually
improved 1.3% year on year in October
to 126.145 million tonnes, not least
because of increases in China (+6% to
59.096 million tonnes); India (+5.7%
to an estimated 6.51 million tonnes);
Brazil (+7.7% to 3.154 million tonnes);
and perhaps most notably of all, Russia
(+12% to an estimated 6.44 million
tonnes). Even Oceania, whose steel
production figures have been peppered
with double-digit declines virtually all
year, boosted its output by 6.5% when
comparing October 2012 with the
same month last year to yield an out-
put for the region of 504 000 tonnes.

For all of the 60-plus countries report-
ing their figures to the WSA, capacity
utilisation in October was, at 76.5%,
identical to that for the same month
last year but lower than the 77.7% of
September this year.

Ahead of last year
And so after 10 months of this year,
world crude steel production was run-
ning 0.7% ahead of the pace set in the
corresponding phase of 2011. Of the
1.277 billion tonnes produced in total,
Asia accounted for a mammoth
831.009 million tonnes (+1.7% year on
year) and China alone for 602.225 mil-
lion tonnes (+2.1%). India bettered last
year’s performance by 3.8% in making
63.632 million tonnes of crude steel
whereas the Japanese total edged 0.4%
lower to 90.165 million tonnes. How-
ever, the biggest declines among the
world’s steelmaking leading lights were
recorded by the Ukraine (-5.7% to

27.924 million tonnes) and the EU-27
(-4.7% to 143.946 million tonnes).
South America as a whole saw its steel
production slip 3.1% in this year’s
January-October period while the total
for Oceania slumped 23.6% to 4.882
million tonnes despite the more
encouraging October performance.
Meanwhile, the combined Africa/Mid-
dle East region raised its output by
1.4% to 28.547 million tonnes, helped
by an increase of 4% in October itself.
To bring the figures for China and the
USA more up to date, the China Iron &
Steel Association reported that domes-
tic crude steel output was just above
1.95 million tonnes per day during both
the first and second 10-day periods of
November. Meanwhile, having dropped
below 70% at times during October, the
crude steel capacity utilisation rate in
the USA averaged 71.4% in the most
recent week for which the American
Iron & Steel Institute has filed a report.

New high point for North American
steel recycling
Last year, the steel recycling rate in North America broke new ground in
reaching 92%. According to figures issued by the Steel Recycling Institute
(SRI), a unit of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), furnaces con-
sumed more than 85 million tons of steel scrap in 2011 – ‘an increase of
nearly 10 million net tons versus 2010’.
The recycling rate for steel packaging achieved an all-time high of 70.8%
last year, which equates to more than 1.5 million net tons of steel recycled.
Appliance recycling remained stable at 90% with more than 2.9 million net
tons of steel recycled, while the rates for construction plates/beams and
rebar were, respectively, 98% and 70%. The vehicle recycling rate, mean-
while, was 94.5%, with the SRI observing that this comes after several years
of figures in excess of 100%, ‘meaning more old cars had been coming off
the road than new ones going back onto it’.
Recycling rates for steel are based on data released by a variety of organisa-
tions, including the AISI and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries.
‘The use of steel in every-day products, including packaging, appliances,
automotive and construction, ensures quality while also supporting product
stewardship, knowing that these products are routinely recycled at the end
of their use,’ comments SRI’s Executive Director Gregory L. Crawford. ‘There
is still progress that can be made. Educating recycling co-ordinators and
consumers on the inclusion of materials, especially empty steel aerosol cans,
will increase the overall tonnage for the industry.’
SRI provides resources to help consumers learn about how and where to
recycle their steel products locally. Its Steel Recycling Locator (at recycle-steel.
org) ‘contains more than 35 000 records that benchmark the recycling
infrastructure for all steel products’, Mr Crawford notes.

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