Soaring business is made from scrap too

Source: Xinhua | 2018-02-23

CHINA’S scrap steel exports soared last year as domestic demand was dampened, according to data from an industry association.

The country exported 2.2 million tons of scrap steel last year, compared with just around a meager 1,000 tons in 2016, according to figures supplied by the China Iron and Steel Association.

The surge came despite a 40 percent tariff on scrap steel exports as millions of tons of such steel was kept out of the domestic market due to a ban on the production of ditiaogang, or steel made from scrap metal.

Most exports went to Southeast Asian nations. The biggest sources of exports were eastern and southern coastal provinces including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Hainan.

China phased out the production of 140 million tons of ditiaogang last year as part of efforts to reduce excessive capacity in the steel sector.