BIR Releases Nonferrous Market Update

The Bureau of International Recycling recently released its report on the trends and markets for a host of nonferrous markets.

In his opening remarks, Marc Natan, Malco, France, and president of the BIR Non-Ferrous Metals Division, noted that with the BIR meeting fast approaching, several trends are taking place:

- a slight and general decrease of steel prices and an increase of traded volumes, but a weak activity on the non ferrous market,

- a shy increase of quotations at the various stock exchanges, but a disappointing inactivity on the metallic raw material market,

- encouraging statistics confirming the slow economic recovery, but smelters, refiners and remelters' demand remains irregular,

- the dollar exchange rate is still weak compared to the main currencies, jeopardizing exports of recycled material to India or Asia, and

- a friendly but difficult partnership between customers and recyclers since only little material is available.

The full report is available only to BIR members. In the report, experts from a host of BIR member companies discuss market conditions for various nonferrous metals in North America, the Middle East, Europe, and the Pacific Rim.

For more information on BIR go to the association’s web site at www.bir.org.