2016 CMRA: Offshore outlooks
2016 CMRA: Offshore outlooks
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Figures for 2015 and year-to-date 2016 indicate recyclers in the United States, Japan and Europe are working to find domestic and export homes other than China for more of their scrap, according to presenters at a session at the 2016 CMRA (China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metal Branch) Annual Convention in early November.
Mark Lewon, president of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) and nonferrous recycler with Utah Metal Works in the U.S., noted that even in the midst of the Chinese scrap export boom, “most of the scrap processed in the U.S. is consumed domestically.”
Of four secondary commodities portrayed statistically by Lewon, three of them have domestic consumption in the U.S. larger than the export volume. Ferrous scrap, with 83% domestic consumption, is the least export-dependent, followed by aluminium scrap with 70% domestic consumption and scrap paper with 59% domestic consumption. Only copper scrap, with a 53% export rate, counters the trend.
This decade, however, even copper scrap exports from the U.S. are diminishing. The volume of red metal scrap exported from the U.S. has declined each year since 2011, when it stood at 1.24 million tonnes. In 2015, that volume had fallen to 954,000 tonnes.
Despite the falling volumes, Lewon also commented, “China and Hong Kong dominate; certainly we see that from our company’s perspective” when it comes to red metal scrap exports from the U.S.
Takaaki Yamamoto, president of the Japan Aluminium Alloy Refiners Association (JARA), said China’s ability to produce secondary aluminum and then source domestic scrap as feedstock appears to be following the earlier pattern of Japan.
Yamamoto said ultimately, “the businesses of recycling aluminium and other materials are a regional industry,” adding, “where there is any supply-demand gap, interregional trade occurs.” He also warned of a “risk of excessive competition associated with oversupply” as China continues to add new aluminum production capacity.
Salam Sharif, chairman of United Arab Emirates-based Sharif Metals International and president of the Bureau of Middle East Recycling, said China’s phenomenal growth in the early part of the 21st century has included “head-spinning development and urbanisation.”
He also noted this growth was made possible in part by foreign direct investment, including by “some 5,000 U.S.-based firms doing business in China.”
Sharif, like Yamamoto, also questioned whether the current production levels of some metals in China was sustainable. He pointed to the growing volume of the nation’s steel exports since 2010 as a case of “the rest of the world getting an overspill” and leading to suppressed global pricing.
The 2016 CMRA Annual Convention was Nov. 7-9 at the Dongfang Hotel in Guangzhou, China.
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Source: Recycling Today
2016 CMRA: Offshore outlooks
<![CDATA[Figures for 2015 and year-to-date 2016 indicate recyclers in the United States, Japan and Europe are working to find domestic and export homes other than China for more of their scrap, according to presenters at a session at the 2016 CMRA (China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metal Branch) Annual Convention in early November. Mark Lewon, president of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) and nonferrous recycler with Utah Metal Works in the U.S., noted that even in the midst of the Chinese scrap export boom, “most of the scrap processed in the U.S. is consumed domestically.” Of four secondary commodities portrayed statistically by Lewon, three of them have domestic consumption in the U.S. larger than the export volume. Ferrous scrap, with 83% domestic consumption, is the least export-dependent, followed by aluminium scrap with 70% domestic consumption and scrap paper with 59% domestic consumption. Only copper scrap, with a 53% export rate, counters the trend. This decade, however, even copper scrap exports from the U.S. are diminishing. The volume of red metal scrap exported from the U.S. has declined each year since 2011, when it stood at 1.24 million tonnes. In 2015, that volume had fallen…