The long-lasting downtrend in the international scrap market, which has pushed prices to three-year lows this month, has led to the point where steelmakers which use electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) have a significant advantage over those equipped with blast furnaces (BFs), which use iron ore as a feed.
That was the conclusion made by the raw materials committee of the International Rebar Exporters & Producers Association (Irepas), and reported on Tuesday September 24 at the group's conference in Dusseldorf."EAF producers' advantage over BF [operators] is around $40-50 per tonne now," Jens Bjorkman, head of ferrous trade at Stena Metal, said at the 81st Irepas meeting, which runs September 22-24.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), Northern Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was $228.00 per tonne on September 24. The last time the market saw similarly low price levels was in October 2016.Turkey is the largest global consumer of imported scrap, so the price in the Middle Eastern country is an indicator for the global market.A major price drop was seen in September. Since August 24, the price of European scrap imported into Turkey has slumped by $46.14 per tonne.Overall, since the beginning of the year, the...