The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) determined July 16, 2015, in a unanimous vote that there is a reasonable indication that the U.S. steel industry is threatened with material injury by reason of imports of certain corrosion-resistant steel products from China, India, Italy, Korea and Taiwan that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the U.S. at less-than-fair value.

As a result of the USITC’s affirmative determinations, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue to investigate imports of these products from China, India, Italy, Korea and Taiwan, with its preliminary countervailing duty determinations due on or about Aug. 27, 2015, and its preliminary antidumping duty determinations due on or about Nov. 10, 2015.

The USITC’s public report, “Certain Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from China, India, Italy, Korea and Taiwan” (Investigation Nos. 701-TA-534-538 and 731-TA-1274-1278 (Preliminary), USITC Publication 4547, July 2015) will contain the views of the c and information developed during the investigations. The report will be available after Aug. 17, 2015.  After that date, it may be accessed on the USITC website at  http://pubapps.usitc.gov/applications/publogs/qry_publication_loglist.asp.

Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Steel Dynamics Inc., which, along with AK Steel Corp., ArcelorMittal USA, California Steel Industries, Nucor Corp. and United States Steel Corp., petitioned the commission, has applauded this decision.

Citing evidence of the import surge in the U.S. steel producers' petition, corrosion-resistant sheet steel increased 85 percent, from 1.5 million to 2.75 million tons from 2012 to 2014 from the five subject countries. Additionally, these countries have increased their tonnage of these imports by more than 30 percent to 800,000 tons from 600,000 tons in the first quarter of 2015, more than doubling their share between 2012 and the end of March 2015.

Mark D. Millett, CEO of Steel Dynamics, says, “We are pleased the ITC has confirmed that the flood of unfairly traded imports of corrosion-resistant sheet steel has materially impacted our shipments, pricing and profitability. SDI believes in fair trade, but the U.S. has become a dumping ground for world excess steel capacity."

Steel Dynamics produces corrosion-resistant steel, including hot-dipped galvanized, Galvalume® and painted steel at its facilities in Butler and Jeffersonville, Indiana; Columbus, Mississippi; and three facilities (The Techs) in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The product is used in many construction applications as well as in automotive parts and numerous consumer products.    

Dick Teets, president and chief operating officer of steel operations at Steel Dynamics, says, “Our company will not hesitate to continue to act with other U.S. producers to address unfair trade that harms the livelihood of over 7,600 SDI employees and usurps our shareholders’ value.”

David Gibb, chief financial officer of Raleigh Recycling NC Scrap Metal LLC, parent company of Raleigh Metal Recycling and Goldsboro Metal Recycling, both of North Carolina, was recently named chief financial officer (CFO) of the year for a midsized company in the Raleigh-Durham area by the Triangle Business Journal. Gibb also is CFO of Benlee, a Detroit-based, global manufacturer of roll-off trailers and trucks for the scrap recycling, waste and oil and gas industries. In 2013, the publication named Gibb a runner-up in the annual awards program. 

Raleigh Recycling is the largest recycling center in Wake County, North Carolina, and is also a junk yard and salvage yard supporting eastern North Carolina.

The award was presented at the Triangle Business Journal’s annual awards event held on July 9, 2015. 

Gibb also was recently named one of the Top Ten Human Resource Professionals of the year by the Society of Human Resource Professionals in the state of Michigan at its annual event in October 2014.

Greg Brown, owner of the companies, says David’s dedication to the companies and the industry is one factor that makes him deserving of the awards.

“It has been a great partnership working with David for the last three years, and we will continue to move forward to drive more value and growth,” says Brown. “We work together each and every day; there is a strong trust and respect for each other’s skill set. Mr. Gibb has provided and added value to our IT, HR, Finance, Treasury and Operational departments at all of our locations.”

Raleigh Recycling NC Scrap Metal LLC, is located close to downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, and is a full-service recycling operation that is currently servicing large industrial projects and demolitions. The company is a major buyer of scrap steel, copper, aluminum and junk cars.

Benlee has been manufacturing and selling roll-off trailers for over 40 years and has been selling its roll-off truck replacement, the Super Mini, since 2007. The product was recently showcased at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Convention & Exposition in Vancouver in April 2015 and last month at the National Waste and Recycling Association tradeshow in Las Vegas.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based ReCommunity will rebuild and reopen the Southfield Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), Southfield, Michigan, with the Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County (RRRASOC).

The renovation of the building, located on 8 Mile Road in Southfield, has been undergoing repairs and reconstruction for eight months, Recommunity says, and will be completed this summer. A fire closed the facility in 2014. ReCommunity says it has ordered the equipment to process the collected recyclables, targeting an early 2016 reopening.

Sean Duffy, ReCommunity president, says, “We are pleased to be able to partner with RRRASOC and reinvest in the Detroit market area MRF.”

He  continues, “We have had a long-standing partnership with the authority, and their willingness to co-invest to rebuild the recycling facility is critical to our future together. Their commitment to driving a community-centric recycling solution, which will bring jobs to the city and help drive resource recovery throughout the region, is perfectly aligned with our core values and brand.”

Duffy adds, “We have worked with RRRASOC for several years and we are excited to extend our partnership together.”

ReCommunity says it engaged in an extensive equipment review process, striving to ensure that the new processing system will continue a tradition of maximizing recovery of recycled materials. The processing system that resulted from this analysis will be constructed and installed by Van Dyk Recycling Solutions, Stamford, Connecticut, and is a state-of-the-art, turnkey Bollegraaf system. It includes extensive applications of the most current recycling equipment technology, including optical sorting and ballistic separation technologies, to maximize quality and efficiency, Recommunity says.

RRRASOC, which helps manage resource recovery for a consortium of seven communities in Oakland County, has funded the building construction and will partner with ReCommunity to invest in and install the new processing system.

RRRASOC General Manager Mike Csapo says, “We have worked for several months to ensure that our co-investment with ReCommunity will restore jobs to the region, as well as help develop local buyers for the recovered commodities we will generate. This is a great example of how a public-private partnership can lead to enhanced community benefits for our local cities and the region.”

ReCommunity operates 31 facilities in 14 states. 

The International Copper Study Group (ICSG), based in Lisbon, Portugal, has released the new edition of its biannual Directory of Copper Mines and Plants, providing facility-by-facility production capacity and summary country capacity through 2018.

The directory also presents the main projects to be developed in the next decade and includes updates to capacity and ownership for about 1,200 facilities, with charts on current and long-term global distribution capacity.

According to ICSG, based on existing facilities and announced projects, annual copper mine production capacity is expected to grow at an average rate of around 6 percent per year until 2018, to reach 27.5 metric tons per year.

Peru is projected to account for 26 percent of the additional capacity from new mine projects and expansions through 2018, followed by Zambia, Mexico, Mongolia, China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Together, these six countries will represent 66 percent of the world growth, according to ICSG.

Annual copper smelter capacity growth is projected to lag behind the growth in concentrate capacity, growing by an average of 3 percent per year to reach 22.5 million metric tons per year in 2018, according to the report. China is continuing to expand its smelting capacity and will account for 60 percent of the expected world growth through 2018, ICSG says. China’s copper smelting capacity increased by around 4.4 million metric tons per year from 2000 to 2014 and is expected to increase by 1.6 million metric tons per year by 2018.

ICSG statistics indicate that world copper refinery capacity will reach 30.2 million metric tons per year in 2018, an increase of almost 3 million metric tons from 2014.

For more information about the directory including purchase details, visit www.icsg.org.