Recycled Steel Scrap Consumption Witnessed Tremendous Growth: worldsteel

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is celebrating 50 years of operations. Founded in New York under the name International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) on 25^th May, 1967, the association was renamed ‘The World Steel Association (worldsteel)” in October 2008. As part of its celebrations to mark 50 years in service, the trade body released a report that outlines the progress made by the industry over the years. It must be noted that the association had received Belgian Royal recognition in July this year in recognition of its fifty years of service.

All regions except North America recorded significant jump in crude steel production over the 50-year period from 1967 to 2016. The North American region recorded slight decline in output from 127.3 million tonnes in 1967 to 110.6 million tonnes in 2016. China witnessed the biggest jump in steel production during this period. The country’s production which had totaled only 10.3 million tonnes in 1967 jumped multi-fold to 808.4 million tonnes in 2016. The nation currently enjoys 45% of world steel consumption. The world crude steel production has skyrocketed from 492.9 million tonnes in 1967 to 1,629.6 million tonnes in 2016.

According to the report, industry fragmentation has remained relatively constant over the past 50 years. The share of top ten steel producers in relation to total production was 23% in 1967. The percentage share remained more or less the same at 26% in 2000 and 27% in 2016, reporting marginal increase over the 50-year period.

The report presents other interesting facts as well. For instance, per capita steel usage across the world jumped higher significantly from 143 kg to 225 kg. There has been a considerable jump in international steel trade volumes from 17% to 29%. By 2016, Open Hearth Furnaces have completely gone out of picture. Blast Oxygen Furnace (BOF) and Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) accounted for 74% and 26% of all world steelmaking capacities in 2016. Also, average energy intensity per tonne of steel produced has declined sharply by 60% over the period.

A total of 18.9 billion tonnes of recycled steel scrap have been used in producing new steel. The widespread use of recycled steel has resulted in significant savings in raw materials. Assuming that every single tonne of recycled steel scrap results in savings of 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the industry has thus generated huge CO₂ savings. Today, every newly produced steel product is made on average from 30% recycled steel.