Why steel recycling is reshaping global trade and creating supply chain winners and losers

Analysis of 1 billion news articles and trade data reveals steelmakers are abandoning spot markets for direct, vertically integrated alliances to control recycled steel quality. The shift bypasses middlemen and creates closed loops where high-grade scrap stays within wealthy regions while developing nations become export-only "extractive sinks." This reorganization transforms the circular economy from an environmental solution into a geopolitical competition for material sovereignty.