Where Has All the Metal Gone
There was most certainly a recurring theme in the presentations by nonferrous metals traders and processors who spoke at the Spring Convention of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), held in Rome in late May. Disgruntlement was expressed by speakers from several different nations over the difficulty of finding adequate volumes of scrap materials.
Robert Voss, of Voss International Ltd. in the U.K., called scrap supplies there “generally tight.” He noted that even in Britain’s slumping economy there are “too many consumers chasing too small amount of scrap.”
Unfortunately—just as in North America—the tight supply has not triggered a significant uptick in prices being paid by consumers. David Corcoran of NECP Ltd. in the U.K. opened a session for cable and wire processors by stating that, “it’s been a difficult year for everybody in regard to metal prices. Most low-grade cables are not having the value to allow them to be processed.”
At the same meeting, another processor from the U.K. expressed his dismay at being unable to outbid Asian competitors for scrap wire and cable. Indeed, David Chiao of Uni-All Group Ltd., Atlanta, said the market for nonferrous metals in China is “always the best in the world.” Another trader noted that LME prices “have minimal effect” on markets in China.