Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Metal products and Waste and recycling

Scrap closes the metal loop: mills and foundries melt it, and worn-out metal products become the next supply. India uses about 41 Mt of ferrous scrap a year but imported about 9 Mt in FY25, and its low-carbon steel plans need far more.

Metal products (industry) and Waste and recycling (industry): 5 relationships.

How they are linked

1. Buys from

Physical flow · ₹1.1 per ₹100 · Metal products buys from Waste and recycling, and the reverse

Metal makers buy sorted scrap and waste-handling services, while recyclers buy metal equipment, containers and parts.

  • ₹1.1 of every ₹100 of Metal products output spent on waste and recycling, all rounds (India 2022)
  • ₹1.5 of every ₹100 of Waste and recycling output spent on metal products, all rounds

The rupee flows look small because much scrap moves through informal traders and through basic metals rather than metal products. Prices are only loosely linked (correlation about 0.12 monthly, 0.35 over 12 months, US PPI).

Sources: OECD; Material Insights (World Bank, FRED, IMF data)

2. Industry input

Physical flow · Criticality 3 of 5 · Waste and recycling to Metal products, and Metal products to Waste and recycling

Four enterprise types in metal products depend on recycling, led by electric-furnace mills, rollers and foundries that melt scrap; scrap processors depend on mills and foundries as buyers.

Foundries reuse their own returns and buy outside scrap, so a scrap shortage raises their costs rather than stopping them, since pig iron and sponge iron can substitute. Galvanisers and platers also need hazardous-sludge disposal.

Enterprise types that depend on it:

  • Integrated steel mills and electric-arc mini-mills: ferrous scrap for electric furnaces (criticality 3 of 5)
  • Aluminium, copper and zinc rollers and extruders: aluminium and copper scrap (criticality 3 of 5)
  • Ferrous and non-ferrous foundries: foundry returns and scrap (criticality 3 of 5)
  • Galvanisers, platers and heat treaters: hazardous sludge disposal (criticality 2 of 5)

Sources: Material Insights; Material Insights

3. Scrap loop

Physical flow · Strong · Used metal returns as feedstock

Steel and other metals can be remelted without loss of quality, so end-of-life products and process offcuts become feedstock for new metal.

  • about 41 Mt ferrous scrap consumed in India a year, including foundries, EY estimate 2026
  • 32 Mt domestic scrap generation, FY25 (19 Mt in FY22)
  • 9.22 Mt ferrous scrap imports, FY25, down 21.1% from 11.17 Mt

Domestic supply has risen fast but still falls short of demand, so imports, worth about US$ 5.1 billion in FY25 (US$ 6.3 billion in FY24), fill the gap.

Sources: EY India

4. Scrap for low-carbon steel

Transition · Rising · Decarbonisation raises scrap demand

Adding scrap to the furnace charge cuts the iron ore and coal needed per tonne, so emission targets raise demand for scrap.

  • 23% share of India's crude steel from scrap, 2024 (world 32%)
  • 50% government target scrap share in the steel charge by 2047
  • 60 Mt scrap needed by FY30 under the target

In the EY estimates, raising scrap in a blast furnace route from about 15% to 25% cuts emissions from about 2.33 to 2.07 t CO2 per tonne of steel, and raising it in a gas-based DRI and electric furnace route from about 20% to 60% cuts them from about 1.37 to 0.78 t. Domestic supply is projected at about 43 Mt in FY30 under EY's standard scenario, short of the 60 Mt needed.

Sources: EY India

5. Scrap and end-of-life rules

Policy · High in India · Recycling policy aims to formalise scrap supply

Most Indian scrap is collected informally, so policy is trying to route it through registered dismantlers and recyclers.

The Ministry of Steel's Steel Scrap Recycling Policy of 2019 aims to formalise collection and dismantling, and EPR-based end-of-life vehicle rules were described as forthcoming in 2025. EY cites high GST rates and complex clearance procedures as barriers to formal scrap trade.

Sources: EY India

For investors

Key learnings

  1. India uses about 41 Mt of ferrous scrap a year and imported about 9 Mt in FY25, so domestic scrap costs are exposed to world prices.
  2. Low-carbon steel plans need scrap demand to rise to about 60 Mt by FY30, ahead of projected domestic supply.
  3. Firms that formalise scrap collection, processing and vehicle dismantling stand to gain as policy pushes recycling.

What to track

  • Ferrous scrap import volumes and prices: Rising imports and prices squeeze electric-furnace and foundry margins (Monthly · DGCI&S, BigMint)
  • Scrap share in steel charge mix: Rising share signals the shift to recycled feedstock (Annual · Ministry of Steel, JPC)
  • Vehicles scrapped at registered facilities: More scrapping adds domestic scrap supply (Monthly · MoRTH VAHAN)

For policymakers

Key learnings

  1. Scrap is a strategic input for India's steel decarbonisation, and supply is short of the 2047 target path.
  2. Formalising scrap collection through the 2019 policy and end-of-life vehicle rules is the main domestic supply lever.
  3. Tax and clearance rules on scrap trade affect whether supply moves into the formal sector.

What to track

  • Domestic scrap generation: Measures progress towards self-sufficiency (Annual · Ministry of Steel)
  • Registered vehicle scrapping facilities: Shows build-out of formal dismantling capacity (Quarterly · MoRTH)
  • Scrap import dependence: A high share leaves steel costs exposed to world scrap prices (Annual · DGCI&S)

India

India consumes about 41 Mt of ferrous scrap a year (EY, 2026) and imported 9.22 Mt in FY25; scrap was 23% of its crude steel in 2024 against a 50% target for 2047.

Sources

  1. OECD Input-Output Tables 2025 edition, India 2022, OECD
  2. Price correlation, Material Insights, Material Insights (World Bank, FRED, IMF data)
  3. Industry map: Metal products, Material Insights (2026)
  4. Industry map: Waste and recycling, Material Insights (2026)
  5. Closing the loop: scrap markets to power India's green steel transition, EY India (2026)