China's scrap mounds threaten global iron-ore industry

Melbourne

AS China's booming middle class junks ageing cars and home appliances, the next threat to the world's ailing iron-ore producers is materialising. In a country that uses more steel than any other, it's now become about as profitable to make the alloy by melting down scrap metal as it is from iron-ore and coal in a traditional furnace, Bloomberg Intelligence calculates.

China's scrap supply wi…