Mr.Öcal Gebelek of Rolmet Dış Tic. Ltd. shared his opinions on the scrap market at the SteelOrbis Spring '07 Conference and IREPAS 56th Meeting that took place in Barcelona this week.
Mr. Gebelek began his presentation by remarking on the continuous rise in worldwide crude steel production. From 1,066 million mts in 2004, there was an increase to 1,240 million mts in 2006 - a rise of 16.3 percent. In 2006, the steel producing countries consumed a total of 500 million mts of scrap. The rise in crude steel production resulted in a rise of 11 percent in scrap consumption.
In 2005, world scrap import and export activity amounted to between 90-95 million tons, out of a total consumption of 450 million tons of scrap. For 2006, it was estimated that out of a total scrap consumption of 500 million tons, 100 million tons of scrap import and export activity took place. Therefore, 400 million tons of scrap consumed was supplied by domestic markets.
According to 2005 figures, Turkey ranks as the world's number one importer of scrap with 13.2 million tons, followed by China at 10.1 million tons, Spain at 6.96 million tons, South Korea at 6.81 million tons and Italy at 5.3 million tons. Meanwhile, the major scrap exporting countries in 2005 were USA, Russia, Japan and UK. However, after 2005, demand in the Russian market started to grow stronger and stronger, reducing the availability of scrap for exports from this origin. The drop in the amount of exported scrap from Russia can clearly be seen when compared to the previous data. This decline trend is expected to continue, especially when new investments which will increase Russian consumption are taken into account.
Turkey's total scrap imports in 2006 are estimated at 15 million mts. Demand for scrap is expected to increase with the new investments on the agenda.
Concluding his presentation, Mr. Gebelek declared that the strength of the international rebar market is expected to continue for some time and that this will have a knock-on enhancing impact on scrap prices.