SteelOrbis has learned that a meeting took place in early December 2008 between the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) and steel giant ArcelorMittal in order to discuss on a very general level the issue of contract cancellations with European raw material suppliers.
According to a BIR official, ArcelorMittal promised to solve the problems in question by bilateral negotiations with the suppliers concerned. BIR has stated that these negotiations resulted in acceptable terms and conditions for raw material suppliers.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in November 2008 BIR had filed a complaint to the European Commission (EC) regarding the cancellation of scrap orders by leading mills, including ArcelorMittal.