SMM Weekly Maintenance Summary on May 18

[SMM Steel] Italy-based Danieli Centro Recycling will supply a new high-performance press shredder to Industrias López Soriano in Zaragoza, Spain, to upgrade its existing scrap shredding facility. The equipment is designed to improve operational safety, reduce explosion risks, stabilize feed flow, and enhance plant reliability. The preshredder will be capable of processing up to 110 tph of mixed scrap and end-of-life vehicles, 100 tph of standard bales, and 90 tph of heavy bales, supporting greater flexibility in scrap recycling operations.

[SMM Steel] Industry discussions highlighted that collective green steel demand is becoming a key driver for low-carbon investment in the global steel sector. According to RMI, global steel industry emissions were around 3.13 GtCO2 in 2020 & could reach 4.25 GtCO2 by 2050 without wider adoption of low-carbon technologies. The report noted that Asia-Pacific green steel demand excluding China & India could exceed 6mt by 2030, mainly from the automotive sector. In India alone, visible low-carbon steel demand could reach 25-27mt by 2030, supported by infrastructure investment and Scope 3 decarbonization targets. Market participants said green demand aggregation initiatives and government procurement policies are expected to improve investment visibility for low-emission steel projects.

[SMM Steel] Japan’s cold rolled sheet and strip shipments increased by 19.7% m-o-m in March 2026 to 407,826 tonnes, although volumes were still down 2.7% y-o-y, according to JISF data. Domestic shipments accounted for 51.9% of total volumes, while exports represented 48.1%. CR inventories declined by 4.6% m-o-m to 647,044 tonnes but remained 4.5% higher y-o-y. Meanwhile, CR production rose 10.2% m-o-m to 376,896 tonnes, though output was still down 10.5% compared with March 2025.