Nonferrous Markets Kick off Year with a Bang

In his opening remarks for the February issue of World Mirror, Marc Natan, president of the BIR’s Non-Ferrous Division, writes the following: “After a very quiet start to the month for our profession, our Asian partners have returned to work following the Chinese New Year and have revitalized the market.

If any reader of our World Mirror does not believe that the Chinese economy is the locomotive pulling along all the primary and secondary metal wagons, then please let me know his name. However, the country's economic growth - currently running at 9 percent - must remain sufficiently steady to avoid a sudden slow-down that would derail the world economy.

First the good news: metal prices are stable at highly satisfactory levels for our profession. Stocks in official warehouses are extremely low, even though we have seen a slight increase in the copper inventory since the beginning of January. Scrap is scarce while demand has been steady.

And then the bad news: international growth is slowing - for example, in Japan and Germany - and analysts are hesitant about raw material price prospects for the short and medium term; an increasing number of them are predicting price increases over the coming months for most non-ferrous metals, with the notable exception of zinc. And as for the news that everybody knows: we are still seeing a disorganized cacophony of state policies relating to transport, definitions and consumption of recycled products.

Governments interpret international agreements in the most convenient way for themselves or as an opportunity to introduce protectionist measures, an approach which no longer fools anybody. It is absolutely essential to achieve harmonization at international level or the present situation may worsen. Our profession has to mobilize itself to defend its own definition of a free market with respect to health and the environment.

We are planning to organize a debate on this topic for our Spring Convention in Barcelona this May. Please give us some concrete examples of the difficulties you face every day in carrying out your work.

Members of BIR are able to read the full report, which gives a detail analysis of nonferrous markets in most regions of the world.

For more information on the BIR, go to their web site at www.bir.org.