At a recent conference held by the China Association of Metal Scrap Utilization (CAMU), proposals for the development of China's ferrous scrap industry during the 12th five-year plan period (2011-2015) was passed by participants.
According to the proposals, China's annual consumption of ferrous scrap should be increased to 100-160 million mt during 2011-2015; in addition, average consumption of ferrous scrap per ton of steel produced should reach 200 kg, meaning that the rate of scrap input compared to finished steel output should exceed 20 percent for each of the next five years.
As of the end of 2009, the annual steelmaking capacity of all electric arc furnaces in China came to 84.96 million mt. However, the yearly yield of finished steel products produced by electric arc furnaces in 2009 was only 55.76 million mt, accounting for 9.66 percent of the total steel production in the country.
During the period of the 11th five-year plan period (2006-2010), annual consumption of ferrous scrap in China grew by 31 percent to 83.1 million mt, while crude steel output rose by 60 percent to 568 million mt per year. Thus, scrap supplies in China are still very small as compared to the country's crude steel output.