Scrap Crisis Threatens Steel Production, May Push Up Construction Costs – Economist

The crisis between scrap-metal dealers and iron and steel companies may have moved beyond a dispute over prices and weighing methods, with the 15-day nationwide strike by dealers threatening to expose a major vulnerability in Nigeria’s steel value chain, the industry’s dependence on scrap as a key raw material.
The chief executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, has identified the weakness of Nigeria’s steel industry as a major obstacle to the construction sector and industrial development, warning that the country’s failure to develop a functional domestic steel ecosystem has resulted in huge capital flight and weakened backward in...