2019 Recycling Industry Yearbook

Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. 20 IRON AND STEEL Ferrous scrap, made from iron and steel, comes from consumer products such as automobiles and household appliances as well as industrial products that include buildings, railroad tracks, ships, and farm equipment. The largest single source of obsolete ferrous scrap in the United States is end-of-life vehicles , the volume of which tracks closely to new vehicle sales. Light vehicle sales totaled 17.2 million units in 2018, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The manufacturing process produces prompt, or new, ferrous scrap: leftover iron and steel that results from stamping, cutting, trimming, or punching. Approximately half of the ferrous scrap supply is prompt scrap. U.S. MARKET U.S. steel mills consumed approximately 103 million mt of iron and steel scrap in 2018 to produce nearly 87 million mt of steel, according to the U.S. Geological Sur- vey. The 6.2% growth in U.S. steel production in 2018 increased demand and prices for ferrous scrap , leading it to outperform most other scrap commodities. U.S. tariffs IRON AND STEEL PRICE AND FERROUS SCRAP VOLUMES 304 318 332 346 $360