At the SteelOrbis 2017 Spring Conference & 76th IREPAS Meeting being held in Budapest on March 26-28, Jens Björkman from Stena Metal International, the chairman of the raw material suppliers committee, stated that raw material suppliers have observed a big improvement in the scrap market because of reduced steel exports from China. He added that in the US steel production operating rates have increased significantly boosting scrap demand, with the outlook being very bullish.
Mr. Björkman indicated that Trump’s America First policy may lead the scrap markets to perform better, but the amount of scrap available for export from the US market may be reduced a bit. Commenting on the $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan announced in the US, he said that, since November, operating rates have already picked up due to stronger domestic demand and this was not because of infrastructure spending. He added that investment is also rising in the US irrespective of Trump’s pledge for $1 trillion in infrastructure spending.
Regarding the EU market, the chairman of the raw material suppliers committee said that industrial demand is picking up in the EU, supporting scrap demand in the region. He went on to say that demand for prime grade scrap is getting stronger and stronger, while making predictions about the market has become more difficult due to its volatility. However, he indicated that the outlook for the global scrap market in 2017 is more positive compared to previous years, adding that he expects that the market will be favorable for scrap despite geopolitical concerns in the EU or elsewhere, such as Brexit or the referendum in Turkey.