MRAI: Inducing a scrap market

In the Indian steelmaking sector, the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) plays the major role at facilities large enough to be called a mill.

However, according to Jitendra Singh, president of the All India Induction Furnaces Association (AIIFA), New Delhi, BOF mills make only slightly more than half of the finished steel in India each year. The majority of the rest of the steel is not made by electric arc furnace (EAF) mills, but rather by smaller-volume induction furnace shops.

The AIIFA estimates there are more than 1,300 induction furnaces installed in India, said Singh. Ferrous scrap has traditionally been “imported individually by each consumer to meet their requirements,” he added.

At a presentation at the 2015 Metals Recycling Association of India (MRAI) meeting in Mumbai in February, Singh said these induction furnaces can melt either direct reduced iron (DRI), also known as sponge iron, or ferrous scrap. Melting scrap can offer several advantages, said Singh, however “there are only 18 million metric tons of ferrous scrap collected in India” each year.

With installed induction furnace capacity of more than 30 million metric tons in India, that scrap figure indicates a shortfall even before the scrap needs of India’s BOF or EAF sectors are considered.

Subsequently, DRI “became the main feedstock” for the induction sector, Singh told MRAI delegates, although scrap has gained ground and is nearing the 50% level, he added.

Singh said the production of DRI requires more energy and creates slag. DRI itself has a limited life span before it degrades and can potentially harbor smoldering fires. Currently, many steelmakers are exploring setting up “mini pellet plants” to create DRI pellets made from iron ore fines, he noted.

If scrap processors in India can seek out and find additional ferrous scrap, commented Singh, induction furnace operators will have an interest in using it.

The 2015 MRAI International Conference was February 5-6 at the Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre and Hotel.