US: The United State Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that 16Mt of ferrous slag was produced in 2018. Blast furnace slag accounted for about 50% of the sales volume. Nearly 90% of this value was from sales of granulated slag. Steel slag accounted for almost all of the remainder. 2.2Mt of slag was imported. Slag was processed by about 25 companies servicing active iron and steel facilities or reprocessing old slag piles at about 140 processing plants in 30 states.
The USGS said that locally produced granulated blast furnace slag was in limited supply in 2018 due to granulation cooling only being available at two active US blast furnaces. Supply of basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steel slag was similarly affected due to plant closures. As per 2017, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) sales volumes have failed to match increases set by the overall US cement industry since 2010 despite positive long term trends.
