Quarterly Report – May 2021

It’s 2021 and the scrap market feels like the new crypto-currency! Every day, it’s at a higher level. But as I was told by a brilliant trader: “A rising market never goes in a straight line.” It’s so true. We’ve become used to this bullish market, even expected it to continue without any signs of weakness.

Let us neither forget that China was a huge catalyst for this strength nor underestimate the tremendous amount of stimulus money put into many other markets. All of this has added to the strength of the scrap market today, and discussions of future projects in such areas as infrastructure. All of this is great, but there will be small dips, large corrections and the like. We’ve seen it many, many times before: we’re no different to any other commodity or even crypto-currency.

This is the time to look back and reflect on how hard we’ve worked for this moment, to relish our success and to appreciate what we’ve accomplished - all during a pandemic. Let’s not forget the additional costs our industry and the world alike have had to absorb, or the freight costs rising faster than our pricing at one time.

Now is also the time to show appreciation of our employees. We’ve all been fighting the same fight against COVID: it’s changed our lives and how we operate, and it’s taken family and friends from us. Thanks to the recycling of paper, plastics, rubber, textiles, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, businesses have been allowed to operate. Where would the world be today without masks, shields, antibacterial gel and, of course, toilet paper.

I’m proud of our industry, what we’ve accomplished, the impact we’ve had on the world and what is yet to be done. We’ve helped each other and continue to do so. We need to continue working together. There are forces out there looking to discredit the value of scrap metal and, in some regions, how they classify scrap metal. Please continue to support our associations that work behind the scenes to protect our industry.

We had some great presentations at our online meeting in June and we now look forward to our next Convention, irrespective of whether it’s in person or online. Don’t miss out as there is so much valuable knowledge and information being shared.

Stay safe and keep recycling!