Crime and Government Meddling with Markets Hampering Metal Recyclers

The “natural” flow of metals around the world is being hindered by government “meddling” in the form of bans and other restrictions on non-ferrous scrap exports, according to Robert Stein, president of the Non-Ferrous Metals Division of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR). Speaking at the recent BIR World Recycling Convention & Exhibition in Shanghai, Stein said that such bans reflected the influence of consumers “who falsely believe that scrap processed within their borders by us is inherently theirs to consume, regardless of its origin”. His comments came at the end of a month in which the Indian government raised the basic customs duty on aluminium scrap imports from 0% to 2.5% and had re-imposed the 4% special additional duty of customs on brass scrap imports. The move was described by Stein as “yet another obstacle to the natural flow of metals around the world”. Reminiscent of the famous economist, Adam Smith’s description of the ‘invisible hand’ Stein went on to say that “the markets are the best at determining where our scrap is shipped”. “The more barriers to free trade, the higher the costs to the processing community who will seek alternative markets,” he asserted. Also expressing concern over the move, Paul Coyte of Hayes Metals in New Zealand said that there was confusion as to why the Indian government had chosen to make such changes at a time of global uncertainty when, five years earlier, it had done “the polar opposite”. Costs, crimes and margins Stein went on to list a number of the other intractable problems currently confronting the non-ferrous sector, including “difficult margins”, “scrap that is expensive for us to obtain” and thefts of metal from containers. He also welcomed BIR’s decision to join forces with the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) - a crime-fighting unit of the International Chamber of Commerce - in order to help it to build a more comprehensive database that could better apprise BIR members of theft and fraud risks around the world. The chairman of BIR’s International Trade Council, Robert Voss of UK based Voss International, urged members to contact the IMB with details of any theft or fraud. The more information contributed by members on a strictly confidential basis, “the more we are protected as an industry”, he insisted. The Chinese story – regulation and innovation One of two guest speakers at the meeting, C. S. Huang - chairman and CEO of Ye Chiu Taicang (Aluminium) in China - argued that huge demand from the automotive sector was likely to encourage further development of the aluminium alloy industry in his country. He also suggested that the “Green Fence” policy implemented by China in February this year had deprived many factories in Guangdong of sufficient secondary raw materials to meet their production requirements. Fellow guest speaker Xun Min Guo, executive vice president of major Chinese scrap importer Dongying Fangyuan (Copper), described scientific innovation as the “lifeblood” of his smelting operation. According to Xun Min Guo, an award-winning oxygen bottom blowing technology has delivered better recovery rates as well as low operating costs and a one-third reduction in energy usage. Read More Funding Delays for UK Waste & Recycling Infrastructure Projects The UK is at risk of having excess residual waste treatment capacity, with 21.3 million tonnes per year of additional capacity in the pipeline. Talking Heads: Scrap Metal Theft As metal prices have risen on the world markets over recent years, so has the age old problem of metal theft. Around the world municipal, transport and communications infrastructure, as well as religious and cultural property have been targeted by metal thieves. WMW asks some of the world's leading experts what is being done about it, and what more governments, law enforcement agencies and the recycling industry itself could do to combat the issue. New SITA Recycling Plant in Birmingham Producing SRF & RDF SITA has opened a new £7 million solid recovered fuel facility in Birmingham to process commercial waste from across the city into Climafuel for a CEMEX cement works in Rugby.