Page 18 from: Recycling International July issue | 2021 + TOP 100!
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grades, was helping to sustain signifi-
cantly higher prices.
In the longer term, pledges within
China’s latest five-year plan to cut
domestic crude steel production
capacity and boost the use of scrap-
intensive electric arc furnaces should
also benefit recyclers.
‘Greener’ steel prospects
Lee Allen, senior reporter at
Fastmarkets, said China appeared to
be reducing its reliance on iron ore
while increasing imports of scrap and
steel billet. Allen said China’s steel
scrap demand could jump 20 million
tonnes this year while annual imports
could be around 10 million tonnes, a
figure last seen a decade ago.
Fastmarkets’ analysis was that China’s
crude steel production would peak
next year and he suggested that
China’s increasing demand for import-
ed scrap would impact the markets.
‘Prices will have to continue rising to
feed these markets – alongside the
other growing Asian markets in
Bangladesh and Pakistan.’
Jiak Lim, senior trader at Singapore-
based Zhejiang Metals and Materials,
believed China’s policies to reduce
carbon emissions would ‘definitely
drive up prices globally for scrap’ and
he advised exporters in the US and
Europe to concentrate on moving
shredded and P&S (plate and structur-
al) scrap to be confident of meeting
the country’s tough import specifica-
tions.
But he cautioned about competition
from exporters in Japan and South
Korea who are benefitting from the
shorter sailing times to China.
The rebounding of China’s economy
after the pandemic ensured that the
contraction in global stainless steel
consumption last year was smaller
than the declines witnessed at the
time of the global financial crisis of
2008 and 2009, said Olivier Masson,
senior analyst at Roskill. The fall of
only 2.4% in global stainless steel con-
sumption in 2020 masked steep year-
on-year falls in the USA (-17%),
Europe (-9%) and Japan (-6%), he
noted during the stainless steel and
special alloys session. The key figure
The early part of the 2020s will long
be remembered for the personal
trauma, economic crisis and changes
wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among all these difficulties, recyclers
will also recall it as a period of
innovation and opportunity.
For the Bureau of International
Recycling, a virtual convention was
the answer to the major challenge
of delivering to its global member –
ship the traditional twin desires
of networking and sharing know-
ledge.
Regardless of the method of delivery,
the issues faced by recyclers around
the world are no less real. Across
three days, the big debates were – as
ever – about prices, demand for scrap,
shipping and logistics, and regulations
and trade policies.
Uppermost in most minds, however,
was the impact of the pandemic on
supply and demand and future trends.
That was certainly the case when the
industry insiders told the ferrous ses-
sion that strong demand for ferrous
scrap as economies bounce back from
the pandemic, coupled with China’s
recent willingness to import certain
High prices and huge demand for recycled materials have driven the plastics recycling sector.
philips leads with circular business model
The Dutch multinational Philips is at the forefront of those brand owners
committing to use recycled content in their products. Eelco Smit, senior
director for sustainability, told BIR the company plans to quadruple its use
of recycled plastic to 7 600 tonnes by 2025. Already, 95% of Philips vacuum
cleaner housings use post-consumer polypropylene and more than 75% of
recycled plastics goes into the non-food contact parts of an award-winning
coffee machine.
Smit sees ‘a clear trend’ in the business models of big brands such as Philips
which ‘have changed into circular models’.
Smit says large brands seek security of supply but most would prefer to
leave recycling to existing experts rather than having to build their own pro-
cessing plants. But he believes that brands willing to invest in new technolo-
gies offer big opportunities for recyclers.
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