Steel giant Corus has announced that it will now offer £0 a tonne for steel cans delivered to its network of CanRoute collection centres across the UK.
The price cut represents more bad news for councils, waste management companies and scrap metal merchants who are already struggling during the economic downturn. One scrap metal merchant told letsrecycle.com that the price cut could make it financially unviable to collect the materials in the first place.
In a statement announcing the fall, Corus attributed once again attributed the price drop to the falling demand for new steel products.
It said: “This reduction, from £10 per tonne, is due to the global economic slow-down and the resulting decline in orders for new steel products in the UK, particularly in the automotive and construction sectors.
“A knock-on effect of this reduced demand for new steel products is a reduction in demand for all scrap steel to be used in the steel production process, resulting in a drop in demand – and value – of steel packaging delivered to CanRoute centres,” it added.
It is not thought that Corus is likely to get to the point where it will start charging gate fees to take steel packaging. However, one commentator said he believed the current situation and prices would improve much until the New Year.
Commenting on the outlook over the next few months, Corus said: “Corus will continue to monitor developments in the scrap steel market and will review the price on an on-going basis. We will not accept any new applications for CanRoute supplier status for the time being, but we are happy to discuss alternative markets for the material with collectors.
“Corus remains committed to the recycling of packaging scrap in the UK. We understand the importance of recycling this material and will provide a market wherever possible,” it added.
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