All Change in the Stainless Steel Recycling Market BIR Convention Told

In a dramatic turnaround Europe will have a surplus of scrap stainless steel this year and will need to export, while the U.S. market has moved in the opposite direction from surplus to shortage, heard delegates at this year’s Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee meeting, held in Miami. The event saw two experts in the field of stainless steel scrap recycling highlight the fundamental developments on both sides of the Atlantic. First, Paul Gielen, director of sales at Cronimet Europe explained that having been an established importer, “Europe will be having an oversupply of stainless steel scrap from this year onwards and will need to export material.” According to Gielen elsewhere the ore export ban implemented in Indonesia has helped push the market towards “a turning point” as China - whose share of global stainless steel production has grown from almost nothing in year 2000 to approaching 50% - is short of nickel units “that have to be compensated one way or another”. Simon Merrills, president and CEO of ELG Metals said that the stainless steel scrap market in the U.S. has witnessed a “dramatic shift” from an oversupply of scrap to a shortage “in under six months” and will remain on a “roller-coaster ride” for some time. Estimating a U.S. scrap import requirement going forward of approximately 12,000 tonnes per month, he asked whether this is achievable and suggested one or all of the following can happen: scrap formerly shipped to Asia from Rotterdam can be sent to the U.S. dependent on freight cost and price scrap formerly flowing to Rotterdam from Canada and South America can flow instead to the U.S., again dependent on freight cost and price U.S. mills can pay higher prices to attract scrap; and U.S. mills can reduce their scrap melting ratio. The major influence on these scenarios, said Merrills, “is the discount from primary metal, offered by the world’s melters, for scrap units”. In the U.S. scrap flow “will be influenced by how quickly Asian mills shrink discounts in order to capture lost nickel units due to the reduced production of nickel pig iron”, he continued. “With discounts of 20%, there is currently ample room for upward movement, before we bump up against the prime or ferro alternatives.” According to Merrills, overall buying activity in all areas of stainless steel is likely to continue to pick up “given the lack of any near-term negative growth signals”. “A sustained high level of activity feeds on itself and, as market players try to get ahead of price rises, we can expect to see some further volatility,” he concluded. Barry Hunter of U.S. firm Hunter Alloys and former Chairman of the BIR Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee, prefaced a “fireside chat” with the two guest speakers with the comment: “I don’t think there has been, in my experience, a more interesting time than right now. For the first time in many, many years, the world of metallics is realising the impact of the scrap industry.” Both Gielen and Merrills identified a recent strengthening in stainless mills’ order books. According to the latter, their lead times are “as good as they’ve been in many, many months”. The guest speakers also pointed to evidence of a more centralised purchasing approach by Outokumpu and Acerinox, two groups which are leading players both in Europe and America. Asked by Hunter whether stainless steel overcapacity has shifted from Europe to the U.S., Merrills contended that there is “pretty good potential” for American production to be absorbed within the Americas. Read More Metal Recycling - Coping with Complexity The increasing complexity of products is making the 'metal-centric' approach to recycling increasingly obselete. Instead there needs to be a shift to 'product-centric' approach. BlueOak Breaks Ground on First U.S. E-Waste Recycling Plant to Target Precious Metals California based BlueOak Resources has broken ground on a $35 million facility aimed at high value recycling rare earth elements and precious metals from e-waste in Osceola, Arkansas. Recycling Infrastructure Needed as E-Waste Set for Explosion in India With a massive population and increasing access to technology the near future will see an e-waste explosion in India, according to researchers at the PEC University of Technology, in Chandigarh and the Surya World Technical Campus in Punjabm, India.