US ferrous scrap exports decreased in 2012 to an estimated 23 million tons, down 5.35 percent from 24.3 million tons during 2011, with the main destinations including Turkey, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada and China, in descending order of export tonnage, according to the information provided by the US Geological Survey (USGS). The export scrap value decreased from $11.4 billion in 2011 to an estimated $10.1 billion in 2012.

Meanwhile, apparent steel consumption, an indicator of economic growth, increased to about 101 million tons in 2012. Manufacturers of pig iron, raw steel, and steel castings accounted for about 32 percent of scrap consumption by the domestic steel industry. About 2.6 million tons of direct reduced iron was used in the United States in 2012 as a substitute for iron and steel scrap, up from 1.6 million tons in 2011.