The news comes after the firm revealed last month that it was not taking in any steel scrap, including steel cans, at any of its UK sites (see letsrecycle.com story).
Speaking to letsrecycle.com on Thursday (January 8), David Williams, manager of Corus Steel Packaging Recycling, said: “We'll be back in the scrap market by the second quarter and back looking at buying packaging in the 2nd half of the year.”
And, he added that Corus “might” be looking at buying some engineering scrap for its steel mill in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in February 2009.
With the absence of Corus from the steel can market, some councils have had to seek alternative avenues for the materials they have collected.
Mike Trim, cleansing services for Exeter city council, told letsrecycle.com that “we were sending our steel to Corus but we have now found another market.”
He explained that: “We haven't been affected by being able to shift the material on, but we're getting zero, though we're still getting recycling credits from the government.”
The credits mean that, while councils acting as collection authorities may receive nothing for their cans they still receive funds when the recyclables reach a reprocessor, for diverting the materials from landfill – the amount paid is equal to the cost the waste disposal authority would pay to a contractor if the materials were landfilled.
Business
Some metal recyclers have confirmed that they are still taking both steel and mixed cans in, with Jason Carpenter, director of West Midland's based metals reprocessor AMG Resources saying that: “As far as AMG is concerned its business as usual, we've not closed our doors for receipt of material – both steel and mixed cans.”
With regards to the price that the firm was paying, Mr Carpenter explained that “obviously the price is linked to the general market”, adding that “if the market goes to zero, the price goes to zero.”
The price paid by Corus for steel cans delivered to its UK network of CanRoute centres hit zero in November 2008, following a series of sharp falls (see letsrecycle.com story), and, prices offered by those still accepting steel cans are thought to generally mirror that level.
Another metals recycler, who wished to remain anonymous, told letsrecycle.com that, while his firm were still taking in steel cans before Christmas, “the pricing is not that attractive to people who have them and they're holding on to them.”
Aluminium
Keith Guest, commercial manager for the Warrington-based firm, confirmed that the company would be re-opening today (January 12) as planned.
While the price paid by Novelis for aluminium cans dropped significantly in late 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story), Mr Guest reiterated the view that the £400 per tonne (loose cans) and £450 per tonne (baled cans) price being offered was “a competitive price”.
“The aluminium can is a strong market,” he said. “We're not expecting to stop taking them in, we still need cans and, as of January 12th, we'll be taking them in as normal.”
And, responding to claims that the firm had plans to shut down its facilities again later this month, Mr Guest said: “We have no plans to close at the current time or to stop taking in material.”
With the tonnages of aluminium cans collected by local authorities low, in relative terms, compared to materials such as paper and glass, and Novelis only accepting deliveries above 0.5 tonnes at its aggregation centres, one council officer explained that the impact of the currently low prices could be reduced.
He explained that: “It's less of a problem, because you need 500 kilograms to make a delivery to them”, adding that “we probably only send off aluminium every six months, once we get a lorry load.”
Scrap
While the departure of Corus from the scrap market before Christmas led one metals recycler to comment that “it's very difficult to know where to pitch prices”, the market was boosted slightly by overseas orders over the festive period.
Mr Carpenter said: “We've seen a bit of an increase in demand for December through Turkey and Spain coming into the market.”
He added: “We may see a strengthening in the general market, which may filter through to cans.”
His sentiments were echoed by another in the sector, who confirmed that prices had picked up. “The big question was 'could that hold?',” he explained. “And at the moment it looks to be.”
“What's happened is prices now are probably edging towards a not unreasonable long-term average price,” he added.
However, with regards future prospects for the metals market, there is less certainty.
The sector has been hit by media reports of possible redundancies, closures and shortened working hours, both at Novelis' Rogerstone rolling mill and a number of Corus' steel mills, while last week it was revealed that virgin aluminium producer Alcoa was cutting production.
With the demand for metals for use in sectors such as construction, electrical goods and the automotive industry down, Mr Trim claimed that the recovery of the steel market “will take time”.
And, a metals recycler suggested the downturn could reduce levels of scrap as well, explaining that “if you're producing less there's less off-cuts, less demolition and less construction scrap.”
He said that, while this could drive prices up, it could also reduce margins for scrap metal merchants as companies looked to get hold of scarce material.
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