THE LANDSCAPE OF STEEL RECYCLING AND MANUFACTURING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE PLANT NETWORKS

Abstract

Steel, an alloy consisting of iron, is a main commodity found in many industries, such as automobiles and construction. In 2011, 1513 million tons of crude steel was produced, driven mainly by consumption growth in China. Currently, steel is the most recycled material globally with 570 million tons recycled in 2011, due to its ferrous properties, allowing it to be easily separated from waste streams. Steel can also be recycled indefinitely without a loss of quality. Recycling plant networks, consisting of recycling and production plants, in the steel industry is expected to develop in the future as mature industries such as the United States and European Union countries produce more scrap, while growth economies such as China and India experience increased production and consumption of steel. The paper aims to provide an insight for steel companies on designing recycling and production plant networks to take advantage of the industry shifts in the future. These recommendations provide a perspective from the operations strategy, and focus on the operational competencies of these companies, which are localization advantages, recyclate ratio and demand volatility. The optimal plant network configuration is proposed for 5 different areas (United States, European Union, China, India and Singapore) with further analysis conducted through a continuous modified market area model proposed by Demeester, Qi, & Wassenhove (2012).