Steel scrap: Policy support is key

Steel scrap is widely recognised as a green steelmaking raw material due to its low carbon emission property. Even though the global steel scrap pool is abundant owing to more obsolete scrap reaching the end of life, scrap supply remains tight for some countries where EAF steelmaking is on the rise. In addition, we are seeing that a growing number of countries have imposed export restrictions on steel scrap due to its strategic value in steel decarbonisation, putting the global liquidity of scrap at risk. Hence, we expect that certain countries like China will enhance domestic scrap recycling capabilities to ensure scrap supply security. Policies will be central in determining the growth trajectory for the collection and use of steel scrap. In this Insight we provide an overview of the steel scrap value chain. We assess steel scrap's role in decarbonisation, different regional markets' features, and headwinds and opportunities for higher scrap usage.