BIR Elects President

During the General Assembly at BIR’s spring meeting, it was announced that Fernando Duranti, Leghe & Metalli International, Milan, Italy, was elected to serve a second term as president.

In accepting the position, Duranti said that over the next two years several initiatives he hopes to accomplish include expanding participation in the Young Traders Group as well as its range of activities.

Duranti also spoke of his desire to: increase contact and information exchange between the various BIR member associations around the world; build BIR membership in South America; and pursue the possibility of giving Division status within BIR to the Plastics and Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committees.

Michael Lion, chairman of the BIR Membership Committee, confirmed that BIR membership now extended to 60 countries, including 42 national associations and 547 company members. A total of 78 members had joined the organization during the year - a figure Lion described as ‘extraordinary’.

Tony Bird, BIR Treasurer, also noted the financial health of the association.

In his introductory speech to the General Assembly, Duranti had earlier reflected on the implementation of the AQSIQ licensing program in China and noted that ‘a new period of applications for new- and latecomers will most probably start again this July.

He also criticized authorities for failing to recognize the environmental benefits delivered by the recycling industry and for dismissing scrap as ‘waste’.

As part of a series of brief divisional reviews, Non-Ferrous Division President Marc Natan rejected export restrictions or bans on recycled products ‘since protectionist measures have a negative impact on supply and demand, and represent short-term attempts to solve problems’.

Colin Iles, the new president of BIR’s Ferrous Division, pointed out that ferrous scrap prices had fallen in recent times despite the fact that world steel production had increased 6.5 percent from figures last year.

Peter Mathews CMG, chairman of BIR’s Convention Committee, that the Barcelona event had attracted a record number of more than 900 delegates (plus 200 accompanying persons) from 54 countries. The next Spring Convention, to be held in Beijing, would represent ‘a real shop window for BIR’, he added.