The supply of scrap steel is not enough to meet the demand for new steel

There is not enough scrap steel for recycled steel to meet the demand for steel in the United States or the world at large. Steel demand is steadily increasing across the world, with demand rising very rapidly in the developing world.¹ The supply of scrap steel is also increasing but at a notably slower rate than demand.² A report from Boston Consulting Group estimated that there will be a shortage of approximately 15 million metric tons of scrap by 2030.³ The rising deficit of scrap is due to both rising demand for steel scrap and a decline in the availability of scrap due to fewer large steel-based projects being built during the 2008 and 2020 recessions.⁴

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Footnotes

1. Lee, J., Voigt, N., Feth, M., & Chhibbar, G. (2024, March 12). Shortfalls in scrap will challenge the steel industry. Boston Consulting Group. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/shortfalls-in-scrap-will-challenge-steel-industry ↩

2. Ibid. ↩

3. Ibid. ↩

4. Ibid. ↩