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Metals Recycling Confex MEA 2023

The Metals Recycling Confex Middle East, organised by Waste & Recycling MEA magazine in association with the Recycling Association of Africa (RAA), brought together over 300 ferrous and non-ferrous traders, recyclers, manufacturers and other stakeholders from the Middle East, Africa and India, in Dubai on March 15, 2023, at the Ritz Carlton, DIFC, Dubai!


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Metal
 
May 15 2023
 
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The conference was opened with a Keynote Address by Dr. Salam Sharif, Founding Chairman, RAA, who addressed industry trends, challenges, and the future of metal recycling, and highlighted the objective behind launching RAA and its membership.

The panel discussions were highly engaging, with the panelists and audiences reflecting on various aspects of the metal recycling industry. Some of the key issues addressed were as follows:

  • The impact of trade policies on the scrap markets.
  • Investment opportunities in the African market for the metal scrap industry
  • Quality requirement for including recycled content in aluminium production.
  • The need for recyclers to up their game to ensure responsible sourcing.
  • Construction and other industrial growth influencing the ferrous market.
  • The optimistic outlook for the copper industry driven by various factors including the Electric Vehicles boom.

…and more

The day also witnessed presentations on Future of Ship Recycling industry, Ferrous scrap and steel markets: Key trends and supply demand shifts in Asia, MEA and beyond and Key drivers for ELV recycling in emerging markets and end-applications.

Industry experts bat for free and fair trade at the metals recycling Confex

The Metals Recycling Confex began with a panel discussion on global trade in a shifting regulatory landscape and expectations.

Marc Natan, Senior Consultant, MANCO, highlighted how EU waste shipment rules can impact the recycling industry. Listing out the challenges in implementing the policies, he called for a revision of rules. He also highlighted the recent multiplication of EPR schemes that pose a serious risk to the recycling industry.

Natan said, “Recycling creates value by turning waste into recycled materials while saving energy and greenhouse gas protocol emissions compared to extracting new raw material. Waste ceases to be so after it enters our sorting, processing and packaging sites, it becomes a product of secondary raw material.”

Speaking about the impact, Natan said, “The trade policy in Europe will have an impact on free trade. It will modify the global scrap market. If the trade in Europe is limited, the price of scrap will be low for the European scrap dealers because the consumer will dictate the price. The limitation on the export will have an impact on the international market and there will be scrap shortage for other countries. There will be more competition. Not just in Europe, the same trends will be seen in the U.S and other countries. Every country wants to protect its own industry.”

Speaking about the impact of trade policies on the scrap market, moderator Salam Al Sharif, Founding Chairman, RAA, drew the audience’s attention to the aspect that countries that do not have the capacity to recycle waste domestically will bear the brunt of restrictive rules.

Francis Mugo, Chairman, Scrap Metal Council, Kenya, spoke about the recent economic developments in Kenya and that the government is keen on regulating the metal scrap trade. He also pointed out Kenya has been encouraging investments in the metal scrap business by making policies favourable for investors.

He said, “During recent decades, an increasingly expanding global economy has led to concerns over the exploitation of the earth’s natural resources. The future we all want is brighter if we engage in efficient solid waste management, reduce humanity dependency on the extraction of primary (virgin) raw materials, and avoid excessive use of nonrenewable energy resources.”

He spoke about how Kenya has been promoting the scrap metal business, as secondary metal is relatively cheaper to produce. “The scrap metal industry has gained economic prominence in my country. It has created thousands of job opportunities and also supplies raw materials to our steel factories.”

Kenya exports about US$50 million of scrap metal yet it imports about US$1.5 billion of metal and steel products annually, he noted. “The Government of Kenya is keen on supporting the sector and has put in place the legal and institutional framework to regulate the scrap metal dealings.” The major thrust of the legal framework is basically to promote accountable and transparent utilisation of scrap metal for investments through local value addition,” he added. He pointed out Kenya is a major importer of used vehicles, yet it does not have an End of Life vehicle recycling facilities. “These vehicles rot in our backyards.”

HE Irshad Sumra, Regional PresidentEast Africa, RAA, noted that Europe has turned its focus towards African countries for minerals and scrap. “We want our recyclers to be able to do business directly without the middlemen.” He also spoke about the problem of illegal trading in Africa.

Habiba Al Marashi, Chairperson, Emirates Environmental Group, spoke about the contributions of the organisation in waste management and recycling and the importance of education of communities to participate in environmental issues, Commenting about COP28, she said, “The United Arab Emirates is known to be result-oriented. The leadership of the country announced its net zero target for 2050, which is a bold step. This demands the concerted participation of all the sectors. “

Aluminium panel lays stress on responsible sourcing

Ram Kailash Mahto, Chairman, GTC Group, the moderator, said the demand for aluminium is increasing in different sectors. “Worldwide, metal is finding newer applications in infrastructure, construction, food and automobiles, and the packaging industry.”

Daniel Gargan, Trader, Bluequest Resources AG, said with primary producers increasingly including recycled content, the demand for aluminium scrap is set to grow. It will also witness greater penetration, he added. “From our perspective, demand for aluminum scrap still remains strong in spite of various headwinds we’ve seen in the global economy. Everyone is rushing towards decarbonization, particularly in the aluminum sector, where you see that whatever your energy source is in primary aluminum production, you can complement this very strongly and reduce carbon footprint by utilizing scrap and recycled content.”

The outlook for aluminum scrap has always been positive and continues to be so. It’s a thriving market at the moment. You see shifts in where materials are shipped according to different industrial assets being brought up. But in general, everywhere there is strong, healthy demand for aluminum scrap.

Salman Abdulla, Executive Vice President, Emirates Global Aluminium, said key primary producers such as EGA are keen on procuring only those metals that have been sourced responsibly. He urged the recyclers to “up their game.”

“The recycled metal is very low in carbon content, and this is one of the prime drivers. Our customers are demanding more and more recycled material in the primary aluminum. But that’s not the full picture. It does not mean that if we source scrap metal or aluminum and blend it with our primary aluminum, it’s acceptable. If anything, it is completely unacceptable.” Highlighting the importance of compliance to Aluminum Stewardship Initiative, he said, “GHG emission is just one part of the process. It’s less than 1%. So, what ticks the box? If you are recycling thousands and thousands of tonnes of metal, but if you are not sourcing it responsibly, if it’s not being recycled in a responsible way, an organization like EGA is not interested in it.”

Talking about China’s restrictions on scrap trade, Dr. Salam Sharif, Chairman, Sharif Metals Group, said, “When the country opened its doors for international markets 25 years ago, the recycling rate was very low and there was a huge demand for raw materials from the industries.” With rapid urbanisation, China faced the greatest challenge of pollution. By way of mitigating environmental issues, it started to restrict the import of scrap, besides other measures. “From net importers, China has now become net exporters.”

Gargan added that China’s doors are not completely shut. “Refined and quality scrap can be exported to the country.” “The regulations in China have got stricter. So there’s a lot more upcycling at home now. It means that in the origin countries, there are still products that you can ship to China, but they have has to be much more refined and clean now to avoid waste byproducts.”

Gargan highlighted the impact of the energy crisis in Europe on the prices of finished products. Mr. Sharif pointed out that aluminium recycling is the most energy-efficient industry. “Making recycled aluminium only takes around 5% of the energy needed to make new aluminium — reducing carbon emissions and saving money for businesses and end consumers,” he pointed out. The panellists later discussed the negative consequences of protectionism.

Sharif said, “Protectionism has created a deficit in supply and demand flow. Recent geopolitical unrest due to the RussiaUkraine war has affected the supply flow tremendously for ferrous and nonferrous metals. The recent EU shipment regulations have created a vacuum. Now you need to find another home for your metals if you are an exporter or if you are a consumer, you need to look around for other sources of supplies.”

Commenting on the challenges stemming from energy crisis and fluctuating prices in the aluminum markets globally, Gargan said, “Even if you have a very energy efficient aluminum plant, the energy component of your product cost is increased substantially. Ultimately, energy cost, labour cost and availability of labour tariffs end up in the finished product price”.