FERROUS
61recyclinginternational.com | November/December | 2022
EU sanctions on Russian steel were
widened on 6 October to include
semi-finished products, albeit with
some temporary exemptions. The new
ruling also specifies that products pro-
cessed in third countries using steel
originating from Russia will not be
accepted in Europe after 30
September 2023. This tightens restric-
tions on steel processors in other
countries using competitive Russian
feedstock to supply the EU. The ban
also includes material from the
regions of Ukraine annexed by Russia.
STEEL STATS:
World crude steel production for the
64 countries reporting to the World
Steel Association (worldsteel) was
151.7 million tonnes (Mt) in
September 2022, a 3.7% increase
compared to September 2021 and
the first year-on-year rise for 13
months.
Of the top ten producing countries,
China produced 86.95 Mt up 17.6%
on September 2021; India produced
9.9 Mt (+1.8%); Japan 7.1 Mt
(-12.3%); USA 6.6 Mt, (-7.5%); Russia
(estimated) 5.7 Mt (-6.8%); South
Korea 4.6 Mt (-15.4%); Germany 2.8
Mt (-15.4%); Turkey 2.7 Mt (-19.4%);
Brazil 2.7 Mt (-11.7%); Iran 2.7 Mt
(-26.7%).
Rolf Willeke, BIR’s ferrous statistics
advisor, took a detailed look at steel
data in the first six months of the
year at the Dubai convention. In this
period, steel scrap usage and crude
steel production across all key coun-
tries and regions were lower year-on-
year. Global crude steel production
totalled 949.4 Mt in January-June
2022 for a decline of 5.5% compared
to the same period in 2021, accord-
ing to the worldsteel data.
China’s steel scrap consumption fell
by 13.8% in the first half of this year
to 119.55 Mt – in percentage terms,
more than double the decline seen in
the country’s crude steel production
over the same period (-6.5% to 526.9
Mt). With its share of global crude
steel production running at 55.5%,
however, China remains the world’s
largest steel scrap user. The second-
largest steel scrap user globally was
the EU-27 (-3.2% to an estimated
43.856 Mt versus a 6.2% decline in its
crude steel production to 73.758 Mt).
The USA was the third-largest steel
scrap user (-3% to 22.5 Mt versus a
2.2% drop in crude steel production
to 41.147 Mt).
Willeke said steel scrap usage as a
percentage of crude steel production
was very high in Turkey (87.1%) and
very low in China (22.7%), although
the latter will increase its scrap
usage.
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