At the recent Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) Ferrous Division meeting held in Miami, BIR president, Christian Rubach from Germany-based TSR Recycling, said that, partly as a result of the "good cooperation" between BIR and the Turkish Steel Producers Association (TCUD), there have been some "slight signs" of progress with regard to the threat of restrictions on European steel scrap exports.
Mr. Rubach quoted Robrecht Himpe of ArcelorMittal Europe, the newly-elected president of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), as saying: "EUROFER has no intention to regulate exports of European scrap further as it stands behind its fair trade policy. Taking such a move would create a precedent against fair trade."
The BIR president said that, after three "painful" years, the steel industry appears to be on a slow path to recovery, with the World Steel Association (WSA) projecting global apparent usage growth of 3.1 percent this year and 3.3 percent in 2015. However, he acknowledged that the scrap industry is continuing to suffer from "severe margin compression" and "huge overcapacity" which "will remain for a long time".