Assessment of scrap supply zones optimality for Russian steel industry plants

Abstract

The article discusses the features of the distribution of ferrous scrap between the main metallurgical enterprises of the Russian Federation. It is revealed that the current configuration of the actual raw material zones of metallurgical enterprises of the Russian Federation is due to the uneven nature of scrap sources and end users, the export orientation of regions and the established institutional structure of regional ferrous scrap markets in the post-Soviet period. Based on the use of geoinformation technologies, the optimal configuration of raw material zones of metallurgical enterprises in the field of procurement of ferrous scrap has been determined. To assess the optimality of raw material zones of enterprises, two methods are proposed in the work – cartographic and economic. As a result of a comparative analysis of the calculation results, it was revealed that the economic method best evaluates the optimality of raw material zones in connection with the best consideration of the features of territorial schemes for the movement of ferrous scrap between producers and end consumers. According to the economic method, the metallurgical enterprises of the Ural metallurgical base have a low degree of optimality of raw material zones and, as a result, large losses in financial terms, mainly due to the extremely high concentration of metallurgical enterprises, small/medium losses have enterprises in the north, center and east of the country, where the demand for raw materials is a limited number of enterprises remote from each other. In the final part of the article, recommendations are presented to increase the economic efficiency from optimizing the distribution and the use of ferrous scrap for individual economic agents and the economy as a whole.