THE country’s imports of steel scrap sank to zero last month for the first time this century, a milestone for the nation that’s tipped to turn into a significant exporter in the next decade.

The world’s top steel producer bought no scrap at all from overseas in August, according to latest customs data, capping years of dwindling volumes, after the government imposed sweeping curbs on all imports of solid waste to help protect the environment.

Purchases have fallen this year despite high iron ore prices and a tight domestic scrap market — factors that would normally spur more imports.

Scrap imports “will eventually face a far more significant barrier: growing domestic scrap supply,” consultancy Kallanish Commodities Ltd. wrote in a report on the global scrap trade.

China is already the world’s biggest user of scrap by volume, although it lags well behind regions such as the United States and Europe in terms of the proportion of steel that’s derived from recycled metal. Scrap accounted for about a fifth of the iron content in its steel last year, according to the Bureau of International Recycling.

The government wants to boost the role of scrap and electric arc furnaces to reduce pollution from traditional iron ore-fed blast furnaces. (SD-Agencies)