Emirates Steel expects a 50 per cent increase in the uptake of ferrous scrap by 2025 in the local market as regional industry looks for more cost-efficient ways to produce steel.

Scrap collection in the UAE is forecast to increase to around 4.7 million tonnes in 2025 from 3 million tonnes in 2016, according to Emirates Steel chief executive Saeed al-Remeithi.

Nearly half of the scrap collected this year was high-value.

“We estimate that by 2025, scrap collected, would reach around 4.7 million tonnes with around 1.8 million tonnes per year of high-value scrap,” al-Remeithi at the Metal Bulletin Middle East Iron and Steel Conference in Dubai on 13 December.

Local scrap pools were growing fast and collection and processing were becoming more developed - proving an alternative and cost-effective source, he added.

“Subsidies on energy prices are being removed very rapidly. I think it’s very important for steel producers in the region to remain agile and to have the ability to switch their sources depending on price levels and production costs,” he said.

Al-Remeithi also urged regional steel makes to co-operate within the GCC.

“The need for co-operation among regional steel makers, which is very much lacking,” he said.

“We must start join ventures and joint initiatives, that aim to improve our visibility in the region and globally as well. At the same, we should co-ordinate protective measures in line with the practices of international organisations,” he added.