At the second session of the 20th SteelOrbis Conference "New Horizons in Steel Markets", held on Tuesday, December 9, in Istanbul, during a panel discussion moderated by Aycha Ozbai, global ferrous scrap market Analyst at SteelOrbis, the panelists commented on the current situation in the scrap market and possible risks. which he encounters.
Assessing the supply and demand situation in the US scrap market based on the results, Tao Bai, Commercial general manager of EMR Group, noted that the increase in tariffs in the United States led to an increase in capacity utilization, demand for scrap and purchasing power in the country. Noting that the U.
S. manufacturing industry is experiencing a significant decline amid market uncertainty due to tariffs, he said that this slowdown has led to weak scrap production. However, he noted that the general fundamentals of scrap metal supplies to the United States have not changed much, as the United States is self-sufficient in scrap metal. Mr. Bai added that although American scrap suppliers seem to be targeting their domestic market, given its favorable prices, scrap exports are unlikely to be limited, as there is no shortage of scrap in the country in the long term.
Regarding the impact of the Carbon Boundary Regulation Mechanism (CBAM) on the scrap market, Cinzia Vezzosi, President of the Italian company Assofermet, Vice President of Recycling Europe (EuRic), owner and managing director of Zetamet, said that scrap prices in the EU have recently increased by 5-10 euros/ton, especially for high-quality scrap metal. According to her, the price increase is not directly related to CBAM, but to restocking due to the upcoming Christmas holidays. Assessing CBAM as "kind of a nightmare," she said that traders in the EU are trying to purchase the material before the end of the year to avoid the costs associated with CBAM. Noting that, as in the United States, demand from the EU manufacturing industry is very low, she said that this has led to a reduction in steel production and, as a result, a decrease in demand for scrap. She further stated that scrap demand could recover in the first quarter of 2026. Regarding the rumors about a ban on scrap exports to the EU, she stated that there is no ban on scrap exports to the EU yet. Noting that the EU collects 100 million tons of scrap and uses only 80 million tons of it, leaving the rest as surplus, Ms. Vezzosi added that if a ban is imposed, it will most likely lead to the closure of many waste recycling companies, and it will also be difficult for the EU to keep Turkey leading the world's largest importer of scrap, as an economic ally.
Commenting on the impact of CBAM on Scrap Demand, Koray Gunay, Purchasing Director of Turkish steel company Çolakoğlu Metalurji, stated that the impact of CBAM
