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

 

Despite forecasts that Chinese domestic copper consumption may surge 6% during the year, majority of copper producers still seem to maintain bearish near term for the metal. The CCIC inspection at US East Coast has reported increased rejection of copper shipments.

 

The aluminum scrap collection in Japan has not shown significant improvement despite heavy fall in prices. The aluminum alloy prices have dropped sharply in the country. Meantime, US secondary aluminum prices declined to $20-$40 per ton. On the other hand, the scrap trade volumes of aluminum and copper picked up in the Middle East.

 

The recent weakness in local currency against the US dollar has resulted in increased scrap metal exports from the country to offshore destinations. The conditions remained more or less quiet in Australia with further weakness in Australian dollar.

 

The South African industry has been badly hit by power shortage and disruptions. Raw material availability continued to remain strong. According to the country’s International Trade Administration Commission, export trade from the country continued to take place with and without necessary permits and approvals.

 

The collection of non-ferrous scrap has been hit hard by lower steel scrap prices in Mexico. Lead scrap supply volumes dropped in Italy. However the country reported abundant supply of aluminum scrap. The scrap purchase volumes have dropped sharply in France too.

 

The Chinese New Year holiday weakness affected the Chinese scrap trade during the month. The scrap demand remained weak in Germany. Fears of imposition of higher export duties were found looming over Russian scrap industry players. Nordic scrap market remained more or less stable.