SteelOrbis CEO Murat Eryilmaz took part in the focus on raw materials, metals, steel and ferrous scrap during the morning session of Assofermet Day, held on 5 October at Grand Hotel Villa Torretta in Sesto San Giovanni, Milan. The subject of his presentation was the international scrap market, with a particular focus on Turkey.
Turkey is still the world's largest importer of ferrous scrap. Although its crude steel production fell between 2012 and 2015 due to Chinese competition, in 2016 the figure increased year on year. Turkey's scrap consumption, according to Mr. Eryilmaz, continues to rely heavily on imports, with imported scrap accounting for 68 percent of total scrap consumed by the country, while the country’s scrap imports hit their peak in 2012, then dropped in 2015 and eventually increased again in 2016.
In the future, China could bring changes to the international scrap trade by becoming a net exporter of scrap, the SteelOrbis CEO stated. This is because, he said, scrap generation is increasing in the Asian country due to the ongoing closures of plants, which should bring about the elimination of 40-50 million mt of scrap demand. The consequence of this is the decline of scrap prices in China, which has already pushed Chinese players to start exporting scrap despite the fact that 40 percent export duty is effective on scrap in China. These first significant exports, which have been seen this year, have mainly been destined for Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam and India, but it is not excluded that they will reach other countries in the future, as the one thing that is certain is that "scrap reserves will keep increasing in China," Mr. Eryilmaz stated.