Chinese metallurgists doubled their use of scrap metal

Chinese metallurgists have increased the proportion of scrap metal used in BOFs to 17.5%, up from 9% two months ago. Metallurgists took advantage of lower scrap prices and complied with nationwide policy requirements, an official from China's Baowu Steel Group said.

Technical constraints have brought scrap steel utilization in converters up to 20%, giving metallurgists even more room to increase scrap utilization from the industry's current 15%, he said at a workshop in Shanghai.

Jiangsu Shagang Group, the largest consumer of scrap metal in China, achieved 18% use of scrap metal on its converters. But a company source said that raising that share could present technical challenges and does not have to be economical due to high energy costs and the longer time it takes to melt scrap metal.