Page 23 from: November 2008
23November 2008
Hell in a few short months
the Ferrous Round-Table meeting: ‘It is time to
plan for the worst, hope for the best, and be
grateful for the prior prosperity.’
Mr Kelley was also one of a number of speak-
ers to tackle the most contentious issue of the
entire convention. ‘It is disturbing to see so
many attempts by buyers to renegotiate con-
tracts, make fi ctitious quality claims or allege
Letter of Credit discrepancies,’ he said. With
increased business risks existing in most mar-
kets, recent events have brought into question
the reliability of Letters of Credit, according to
Mr Kelley. And he added: ‘Simply said, a dis-
crepancy is more easily accepted in a rising or
stable market, but more certainly refused in a
falling market or if the consumer or its open-
ing bank is fi nancially weak.’
‘Outright and arbitrary cancellations’
Robert Stein, President of BIR’s Non-Ferrous
Metals Division, reported that scrap suppliers
have been forced to accept customer demands
for the renegotiation of contractual terms, and
have even fallen victim to ‘outright and arbi-
trary cancellations’.
While acknowledging that there are ‘many
consumers and processors throughout the
world who are honouring their commitments’,
he described as ‘reprehensible and absolutely
inexcusable’ the fact that some purchasers ‘take
advantage of situations like this’.
Prior to the convention in Düsseldorf, BIR
had issued a statement attacking the ‘unpro-
fessional and unethical behaviour’ of buyers
guilty of completely ignoring the terms of
contracts signed some weeks earlier. This is
causing ‘serious fi nancial diffi culties for many
sellers’, the world body claimed. The BIR’s new
International Trade Council also highlighted
this same issue in a statement released at the
start of the convention and reproduced in full
on this page.
Sacrificing deposits
In Düsseldorf, many traders identifi ed China
as leading the way in terms of contract defaults.
In a recent Metal Bulletin article written by
Full statement from BIR’s
International Trade Council
The following offi cial statement was issued to
the international press at the outset of the latest
BIR Autumn Convention and was also read out
during several of the plenary commodity ses-
sions:
‘The Bureau of International Recycling, the
world federation of recycling industries, recogn-
ises that its members are involved in markets
that are inherently volatile in nature. Recent
conditions in commodities and fi nancial mar-
kets have served to create circumstances under
which a broad range of our members have
been negatively impacted through various
forms of lack of contractual performance.
BIR encourages its members and their trading
partners to engage in business within the moral
and ethical guidelines which form the very basis
of the trust with which the recycling industry
has transacted its business for so many years.
Whilst BIR is not legally empowered to partici-
pate in any commercial
matters, it urges suppliers
and customers to fulfi l
their business obligations
in accordance with good
business ethics and to
exercise appropriate and
prudent diligence.’
Robert Voss, Chairman of BIR’s International Trade Committee
which met for the fi rst time in Düsseldorf.
From left to right: Enrique Acosta of BMB Metals LLC of the USA,
and Javier Barrio and Kris Wauters of Metallum in Spain
RI_046 BIR Intro.indd 23 13-11-2008 16:34:56
