Raw materials session of "Steel in the Raw"

At SteelOrbis' and Irepas' "Steel in the Raw" conference in Milan Monday, representatives from the companies Black Country Metals, Assofermet, and Metal Expert spoke to the attendees about the raw materials market. Peter Matthews CMG of Black Country Metals gave a presentation about the deep sea scrap freight market, focusing on global import and export trends for ferrous scrap. Mr. Matthews CMG noted that the major scrap exporters in the world in 2005 were the USA, the European Union, and Russia, with the US (the world's second largest scrap-exporting country; Russia is the first.) exporting 10.5 million metric tons of scrap in 2005. Mr. Matthews CMG also listed the major scrap importing countries in 2005 in descending order: Turkey, China, South Korea, Spain, Italy, and Germany. His statistics show that EU countries' exports to South Korea, however, declined sharply in 2005, while EU scrap exports to developing India rose significantly in 2005. The top three importers of US scrap in 2005 were China, Turkey, and South Korea. Mr. Matthews CMG closed his presentation by giving the audience his opinion that the flow of scrap from one country to another is extremely important, such that if this flow of materials were to stop for two weeks, the entire world market would collapse. Roberto Lunardi of the company Assofermet shared his take on the European raw materials market in his speech, from an Italian point of view. Mr. Lunardi told the audience that in Italian local supply does not provide enough scrap to feed the domestic demand for electric arc furnace mills, therefore the country imports a great deal. Italy differs from other European countries in this respect; in most European countries, the four or five biggest scrap manufacturers can fulfill domestic need. He implied that this is not a disastrous situation, just a challenge to the Italian steel industry that may be resolved in time. Andrey Pupchenko of event sponsor Metal Expert shared his analysis of the raw materials market, from a CIS standpoint. He said that while 2004 to 2005 was a period of great consolidation in the CIS scrap market, it is still under considerable restrictions of the local governments. His company's statistics show that in Russia and Ukraine, deliveries into the domestic markets are growing, while exports are slightly down. Mr. Pupchenko shared his point of view that the surplus of steelmaking capacities will eventually drive scrap export down.