Italy’s Leading Role in Electric Steel Production Highlights Growing Competition for Recycled Metal Resources
By Editorial Office
Italian manufacturers stand as the European nation with the highest proportion of steel production from electric furnaces. The electric steelmaking sector accounted for a rather impressive 86% of national sector output in 2023, whilst the EU average sits at a mere 45%. Furthermore, Italy holds the position of second-largest steel-producing country in Europe.
Consequently, Italian industry has become rather dependent on ferrous scrap, which is absolutely essential for electric furnace operations. However, whilst the national collection and recycling rates are quite commendable, they fall rather short of meeting Italian steel industry’s requirements. The shortfall must be imported.
The situation in the rest of Europe is quite different indeed. Unlike Italy, the EU as a whole finds itself in the position of being a net exporter of scrap. At least until now.
The conversion from integrated cycle with carbon-intensive blast furnaces to electric ones is expected to sweep across the continental steel industry over the next decade — all part of the pressing matter of CO2 reduction. Therefore, the demand for ferrous scrap shall increase quite substantially. Meanwhile, the quantity of recycled scrap entering the steel cycle is likely to decrease, owing to declining consumption and product replacement rates.
In light of these circumstances, European steel producers, united under Eurofer (to which Federacciai belongs), have been rather insistent about implementing measures to curtail scrap exports to non-EU countries.
Turkey, in particular, currently absorbs more than half of the approximately twenty million tonnes of scrap exported annually from Europe.
On the other side of the fence stand the companies involved in collecting, processing, and trading scrap metal. The outflow is quite significant, they argue, because European demand for scrap remains well below supply. According to the sector, forcing scrap retention in Europe would be a frightful distortion of the market, causing prices to plummet and creating considerable difficulties for industry operators.
The Italian trade association Assofermet Rottami is decidedly opposed to the export ban, maintaining that as European steel industry demand increases, scrap will naturally remain on the continent — provided that European steel mills offer competitive prices compared to their non-EU counterparts.
