BIR Non-Ferrous World Mirror-Jan '15 released

BRUSSELS (Scrap Monster): The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) has released the Non-Ferrous World Mirror January 2015 edition.

The sharp decline in oil prices have badly hit Mexico, especially at a time when the country was hoping to raise its revenue by ramped up production. The scrap processors in the country continued to struggle due to exceptionally low scrap volumes on account of government regulation and declining scrap prices. On the other hand, the demand for aluminum scrap remained robust, backed by increased demand from the country’s automotive industry. Fresh oil investments have been put on hold in Norway.

Although Twitch and Zorba prices have cooled off, the demand from automotive sector remained robust in the US. Meanwhile, aluminum alloy demand plunged in Japan. The country’s automobile production has declined for seven months in a row.

Aluminum alloy producers in China continue to remain under pressure on account of lower domestic demand. The weakening Japanese Yen has made imports costlier. Meantime, the scrap related businesses in India are hopeful that the new government will announce favorable policies in the upcoming financial budget due to be presented end-February. Incidentally, the Metal Recycling Association of India has demanded withdrawal of scrap import duties.

It is observed that copper scrap dealers in South Africa continue to exploit the loopholes in the system to secure licenses illegally. The snow weather conditions affected scrap trade in the Middle East region. In contrast, bright weather resulted in increased trade volumes of non-ferrous scrap in Denmark and Southern Sweden.

The scrap trade volumes remained low in Australia and New Zealand during the month of January this year. The trade volumes have slowly started to pick up in Italy and France after the holiday break. Non-ferrous scrap prices dropped in Germany on account of increased availability and weakening demand. Russian market too remained subdued.