Europe and Asia operate more of the world’s larger electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills, but North America fares well in the productivity it squeezes from its capacity.
That was one finding that Jerry Goodwald, a vice president with North Star Steel Co., Minneapolis, offered attendees of the Steel Scrap 101 Seminar in his look at steelmaking in the U.S. as it compares to efforts globally.
The Steel Scrap 101 Seminar was hosted in St. Louis in February by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) and the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA).
Goodwald noted that 37 percent of Asia’s and 35 percent of Europe’s EAF mills could be considered “high productivity shops,” if that is defined as a mill with 110-tons-per hour (or larger) furnaces and a tap-to-tap time of 60 minutes or less. Just 24 percent of North American EAF mills (42 mills in total) could be said to fit in that category.
“If you look at that, you could say that North America is lagging a little bit,” Goodwald remarked. But a look at some other numbers seems to indicate that while Asia and Europe may boast better equipment, North American mills are winning the efficiency battle.
The 42 North American high-productivity mills, on average, use less overall energy to produce a liquid ton of steel than the 60 European or 40 Asian high-productivity mills do. While Asian mills use the fewest kilowatt-hours of electricity, their use of additional energy sources ranks them third in overall energy efficiency.
And the North American high-production mills are also pumping out the most steel, producing 134 liquid tons per hour, compared to an average of 120 liquid tons per hour for both the Asian and European high-production mills.
Goodwald noted that a number of factors go into determining the profitability of an EAF mill, including labor, energy and transportation costs as well as the pricing one can fetch for finished products.
He cited as industry trends a lean or “flat” management structure; workforce compensation tied to productivity incentives; an efficient use of resources; and trying to establish more flexible cost structures to cope with market cycles.
In terms of a steel industry wish list, Goodwald referred to the International Iron and Steel Institute effort to eliminate national subsidies for steelmakers; the shutting down of obsolete or non-competitive facilities; and the establishment of a trade arbitration system.