12 November Eurofer reiterated its position that the Commission "recognizes scrap steel as a strategic secondary raw material under the critical Raw Materials Act, will ensure robust implementation and effective enforcement of the revised EU Waste Transport Regulation to ensure compliance with EU environmental standards in the third countries and avoid circumvention, while ensuring a sustainable and diversified supply of raw materials through the use of bilateral free trade agreements, providing reciprocal market access and eliminating illegal bans for export and other distortions.”
Scrap consumption in the EU is set to increase significantly in the coming years. “Exports of scrap to third countries without comparable environmental and social standards [therefore] need to be limited to ensure that the use of ferrous scrap produced in the EU contributes to sustainable development goals consistent with those of the EU,” Eurofer said.
The bloc's trade has always been heavily focused on Turkey, the world's largest importer of ferrous scrap, with annual trade volumes ranging from more than half to two-thirds of total exports over the past five years. Turkey, where about three-quarters of its steel production is based on electric arc furnace, relies heavily on material of European origin.
Turkey's share of EU exports has increased in recent years following Britain's exit from the EU, but the share of supplies from the bloc has to grow since the second half of the 2010s, when Russia, another major supplier of ferrous scrap to Turkey, began to restrict exports.
Russian scrap exports to Turkey fell from about 2.5 million tons in 2018 to 1.9 million tonnes in 2019 and 2021 and to just over 400,000 tonnes in 2022–24.
The EU's main trading partners for scrap are Egypt, India and Pakistan, all of which are third countries for EU and non-OECD countries whose import volumes are rising as Asia continues to expand its steel production capacity, mainly through the use of induction furnaces (IF).
The EU's intention to limit scrap exports has caused deep concern among many in emerging markets, as has its move towards introducing CBAM (carbon border management mechanism), which will reduce the ability to export to the EU from countries where steel production processes and carbon emissions do not meet stricter EU standards.
