US ferrous scrap, DRI consumption rise in 2024

Steel mills and iron foundries in the United States consumed more recycled steel and more direct-reduced iron (DRI) in 2024 compared with 2023, according to U.S. Census Bureau data aggregated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The USGS has posted a 2024 summary of activity in the iron and steel scrap market to its website, which includes statistics and some estimates on scrap collection, consumption and trading for the year. The agency also posts monthly summaries, with October 2024 being the most recent.

In its 2024 summary, USGS estimates 63 million tons of ferrous scrap were consumed domestically in 2024, a 1.6 percent rise from the 62 million tons melted in 2023. Meanwhile, the USGS calculates about 15 million tons of ferrous scrap were exported from the U.S. last year, down 6.25 percent from the 16 million tons shipped in 2023.

The agency also gathers data on direct-reduced iron use in the U.S. and says some 7.5 million tons of that scrap alternative were consumed domestically in 2024. That represents a 7.1 percent increase from the 7 million tons used by American mills in 2023.

Regarding ferrous scrap collected last year, USGS says it “consisted of approximately 58 percent postconsumer scrap (old, obsolete scrap), 24 percent new scrap (scrap produced in steel product manufacturing plants) and 18 percent home scrap (recirculating scrap from [mill] operations).”

USGS has calculated 2024 recycling rates of 98 percent for structural steel from construction and demolition projects, 88 percent for appliances, 71 percent for rebar and reinforcement steel and 70 percent for steel packaging.

As far as scrap’s value last year, USGS—citing Fastmarkets pricing for No. 1 heavy melting steel (HMS)—writes, “The annual average price delivered in the first 10 months of 2024 decreased to $327.64 per ton compared with the full-year annual average of $338.63 per ton in 2023.” That represents a 3.2 percent drop in average value.

In the trading realm, USGS says in the first nine months of 2024, “Turkey was the primary destination for exports of ferrous scrap, by tonnage, accounting for 30 percent of total exports, followed by Mexico at 14 percent and Bangladesh at 13 percent.”

At an estimated 4.7 million tons, the U.S. imported less than one-third the amount of ferrous scrap last year compared with what it exported. The agency lists the following countries as leading import sources: Canada (71 percent), Mexico (12 percent), the Netherlands (5 percent) and Sweden (4 percent).