BIR Releases 17th Edition of World Steel Recycling Report

17th edition of “World Steel Recycling in Figures” highlights growth in recycled steel consumption, direct reduced iron production and global trade trends

At the BIR Ferrous Division meeting in Gothenburg, Divisional President Shane Mellor announced the publication of the 17th edition of “World Steel Recycling in Figures”. The report covers the five-year period from 2021 to 2025 and contains a total of 60 graphs and tables.

During the meeting, Divisional Statistics Advisor Rolf Willeke presented key findings from the publication.

According to the report, global crude steel production declined by 1.9% in 2025 to approximately 1.850 billion tonnes. Data from worldsteel showed that 69.4% of total production came from oxygen furnaces, while 30.3% was produced in electric furnaces. Oxygen furnace production decreased during the year, whereas electric steel production recorded a slight increase.

The report also highlighted growth in global direct reduced iron (DRI) production, which increased by 4.9% in 2025 to around 153 million tonnes. India remained the largest producer, recording a 7.4% increase to approximately 58.9 million tonnes.

Recycled Steel Consumption Increases

Total recycled steel consumption across BIR’s key countries and regions increased by 4.5% in 2025 to 480 million tonnes, despite a 2.5% decline in crude steel production.

China retained its position as the largest recycled steel consumer globally, with consumption rising 8.3% to 227 million tonnes, even as the country's crude steel production fell by 4.4%.

India also recorded increases in both recycled steel consumption and crude steel production during the year.

The total recycled steel consumption figure for key countries and regions represented approximately 75% of global steel usage for steelmaking.

Based on calculations by BIR and worldsteel, around 630 million tonnes of recycled steel are used annually in global steelmaking. The report states that this usage prevents nearly 950 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year while contributing to energy savings and natural resource conservation.

Recycled steel accounted for 86.8% of crude steel production inputs in Turkey during 2025, while the corresponding figure for China was 23.6%, reflecting the country's higher share of oxygen furnace production and lower recycled steel input.

Turkey Remains Leading Recycled Steel Importer

Turkey continued to be the world's largest importer of recycled steel in 2025 despite a decline in imports to 18.768 million tonnes.

Its main suppliers were the USA, where exports to Turkey declined 20.4% to 3.608 million tonnes, and the Netherlands, where volumes decreased 0.1% to 2.764 million tonnes.

India ranked second among global recycled steel importers, with imports declining 5% to 8.040 million tonnes. Major supplies came from the USA, which recorded an 11.4% decline to 1.320 million tonnes, and the UK, where exports fell 11% to 0.890 million tonnes.

Import volumes increased into the EU-27 by 28.8% to 4.991 million tonnes, the USA by 5.1% to 4.662 million tonnes, and Pakistan by 39.8% to 3.022 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, imports declined in Taiwan by 38.1% to 1.853 million tonnes and in South Korea by 17.4% to 1.782 million tonnes.

EU-27 Retains Position as Largest Exporter

The EU-27 remained the world's largest recycled steel exporter in 2025 despite a 2% decline in export volumes to 16.684 million tonnes.

Turkey remained the largest destination for EU-27 exports, receiving 10.824 million tonnes, down 0.9%, while exports to Egypt increased 13.4% to 1.86 million tonnes.

The Netherlands continued to be the largest individual external exporter within the EU-27, with exports increasing 4.39% to 3.922 million tonnes.

The USA retained its position as the second-largest recycled steel exporter globally despite an 18.4% decline in exports to 11.767 million tonnes.

Turkey remained its largest customer, importing 3.796 million tonnes, down 14.3%, while exports to Bangladesh declined 28.1% to 1.325 million tonnes.

During 2025, recycled steel export volumes increased from the UK by 4.4% to 6.532 million tonnes, Mexico by 34.1% to 1.599 million tonnes, Singapore by 33.3% to 1.262 million tonnes, and Japan by 17.96% to 7.711 million tonnes.

Export declines were recorded in Canada, where shipments fell 5.4% to 4.280 million tonnes, and Hong Kong, where exports decreased 8.7% to 1.100 million tonnes.

The report noted that, on a net export basis, the EU-27 and the USA remained the leading recycled steel exporters globally. Export price trends in both regions followed a broadly similar pattern throughout the year.