Global scrap metal consumption has increased
Global scrap metal consumption increased by 4.5% compared to the previous year and reached 480 million tons, despite an overall 2.5% decrease in global steel production. This is reported by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR). China retained the status of the world's largest consumer of this cheese, increasing the figures by 8.3% to 227 million tons, although the volume of steel smelting in the country decreased by 4.4%.
India also demonstrated positive dynamics, showing significant simultaneous growth in both scrap consumption and steel production. Overall, the key countries and regions represented in the report account for about 75% of the total global scrap metal use in metallurgy. "BIR's own calculations and Worldsteel data show that about 630 million tons of metal are used simultaneously in the steel industry, which avoids emissions of almost 950 million tons of CO2, while saving energy and natural resources," the publication notes.
The fate of scrap in metallurgical production differs significantly depending on the technology. For Turkey, this indicator has traditionally been high and amounted to 86.8%, while for China it remained low – only 23.6%, due to the high proportion of the converter production method, which requires significantly less scrap compared to electric steelmaking.
The world's largest importer of scrap metal in 2025 Turkey remained, despite the reduction of its foreign purchases to 18.8 million tons. The main suppliers were the United States, with a drop of 20.4% to 3.6 million tons, and the Netherlands, with a slight decrease of 0.1% to 2.8 million tons. The second place among importers was taken by India, which imported 8 million tons of scrap last year, which is 5% less in annual terms. In particular, shipments from the United States decreased by 11.4% to 1.3 million tons, and from the United Kingdom by 11% to 0.9 million tons. Meanwhile, scrap imports increased last year in the EU by 28.8% year–on–year, to 5 million tons, in the USA by 5.1% year–on-year, to 4.7 million tons, in Pakistan by 39.8%, to 3 million tons. The opposite reduction in purchases was recorded in Taiwan, where imports fell by 38.1% YoY to 1.9 million tons, and in South Korea by 17.4% to 1.8 million tons. The European Union retained its status as a major global exporter of scrap metal in 2025, even though total shipments decreased by 2% year-on-year to 16.7 million tons.
The main European export destinations were Turkey, with a slight decrease of 0.9% to 10.8 million tons, and Egypt, with an increase of 13.4% to 1.9 million tons. The Netherlands has reconfirmed its status as a major individual export within the EU, increasing shipments by 4.4% year-on-year to 3.9 million tons. The United States retained the second place among global exporters, despite a significant drop in volumes by 18.4% YoY, to 11.8 million tons. Turkey and Bangladesh have become key buyers of American cheese.