The company says the conveyor reduces jams and increases throughput.

Endura-Veyor Inc., a company based in Alpena, Michigan, recently unveiled its Top Flight Drag Conveyor, designed to handle a range of loose, problematic materials and challenging loading conditions.

The conveyor is equipped with guided chain-driven flights or paddles that are reinforced for tough applications. The flights push material along an abrasion-resistant, hardened-steel trough or channel, making it more durable than traditional belt conveyors, the company says. The machine also can handle high-volume infeed applications because the chain-driven flights are on the top of a conveyor bed and move in the same direction of material flow, supplying zero interference during top loading.

The machine is designed to handle various loading conditions, such as inclines, curves and surge loading, the company says.

Endura-Veyor Inc. is a company specializing in multiple forms of conveyors, including hinged steel belt, fabric belt and drag chains. The business also makes ancillary equipment used in scrap or loose material handling, recycling, manufacturing and distribution.

Panelists at "Fastmarkets AMM" session foresee demand for ferrous scrap remaining buoyant in the near term.

The high per-ton prices that have characterized the ferrous scrap market in the first trimester of 2021 may be here for a while longer, panelists at an online industry session speculated in mid-April.

The 70 percent market share for scrap-fed electric arc furnace (EAF) technology in the United States is a key reason for the prediction, according to the panelists at the session held by Fastmarkets AMM titled “Steel market dynamics and raw material demand in the United States.”

Alan Kestenbaum, CEO of Hamilton, Ontario-based steelmaker Stelco, said demand for steel from North American producers is strong during the rebound from COVID-19 and its restrictions.

He said the fact that EAFs now have 70 percent of the market means they increasingly dictate steel prices in North America, and high scrap prices thus likewise lead to higher steel pricing. “The [strained supply] raw material situation, which is what drives price in North America, is real,” said Kestenbaum. “It’s something that can be seen, it’s happening and it’s going to get more acute.”

Kestenbaum pointed to the export market and potential increased buying from China as another factor that could prolong the bull market for scrap, as did two of his fellow panelists, one of them from the scrap processing sector.

“Now that China has come back into the market again, you’re seeing demand outweigh supply,” said Sean Daoud, a vice president with Clackamas, Oregon-based PNW Metal Recycling. “I think, as their regulations develop, they are going to come into this market and buy a lot of ferrous scrap to feed their EAFs.”

Jeffrey Lorch, a partner with consultancy McKinsey, said European mill buyers may also develop a wider global presence, as the European Union and national governments there enact decarbonization policies that will favor the melting of scrap over other iron units.

On the supply side, CEO Allan Goldstein of Pittsburgh-based scrap processing and trading firm AMG Resources said of prompt scrap—currently enjoying a wide price premium over obsolete scrap—“No matter what price you put on that scrap, you’re not putting more of it out—only so much is produced.”

He said the supply of obsolete grades has risen with the increase in prices, but some of this scrap is not favored by domestic steel buyers. “People forget that the U.S. does export around 18 million tons per year of ferrous scrap. A lot of that can’t be used by domestic steelmakers.” Goldstein added, “Then again, there is shred and P&S [plate and structural] being exported, so there is a little bit of a reservoir there” that could go to domestic mills.

Daoud characterized the current state of supply on the West Coast as tight, saying lockdown restrictions in all three Pacific Coast states during COVID had pinched supply. As of April, “More demolition work is going on now, so that scrap supply is going back up.”

Lorch of McKinsey expressed long-term bullishness for scrap, portraying the low-carbon aspects of the material as meaning “scrap is going to move from 30 to 50 percent of total metal units in the market by 2045. As a result of that, never bet against scrap.”

Despite all the signs of bullishness, Goldstein quipped, “I’ve been in the business over 40 years. Every time the scrap market goes high, it’s a paradigm shift. And then three years later, I can’t sell my scrap.” He added, “I think the market will come down eventually. I wish it wouldn’t, but it will. I’m selling my scrap, not holding it. So, the next conference [topic might be] ‘When will the market perk up?’” Shifting back to optimism, he concluded, “It is always a gradual shift for the better, and I think it will continue.”

Session moderator Vince Pappalardo of investment banking firm Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. LLC also asked panelists about the emphasis on ferrous scrap quality and chemistry in 2021. Goldstein commented, “At AMG we guarantee chemistries. On our shredders we use smaller grates so we can separate better. We use a lot of technology, and that will continue so you’ll see higher grades coming about and you’ll see steel mills being able to blend in the lower grades to produce their heats. It’s a huge capital expense, [and] by the time we put a new piece of equipment in, it’s almost obsolete. But that’s how mills can use more scrap—when they can be guaranteed of the chemistries. When you can guarantee the chemistries, you’ll always have better sales.”

Daoud said, “Quality standards are almost par at this point all over the world,” with processors increasingly working with equipment vendors to use “sensors in your ferrous sorting equipment to take the copper and impurities out of your steel shred.”

Long-time shear and attachment industry executive part of National Demolition Association’s 2021 Hall of Fame class.

Curt Frahm, the co-founder of Superior, Wisconsin-based Genesis Attachments, has been honored with induction into the National Demolition Association (NDA) Hall of Fame.

Inducted during the recent 2021 NDA virtual convention, Frahm was recognized as an elite industry leader, whose commitment, ingenuity and devotion has significantly impacted the demolition industry, according to Genesis Attachments.

Frahm also was credited for contributing to the fast start of Genesis and for helping to build the company “into a world-class, industry leader of attachments,” the firm says.

After founding Genesis in 1997, Frahm spent 17 years with the company, serving as a regional sales manager and retiring in 2014.

Genesis Attachments is now part of Japan-based NPK Construction Equipment (NPKCE). Genesis designs and makes shears, grapples, concrete processors and specialty attachments for the scrap processing, demolition, material handling and offshore decommissioning industries.

Global trade association sees widespread steel demand recovery for remainder of 2021 and into 2022.

The Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) has released its short-range outlook for 2021 and 2022. Worldsteel forecasts steel demand will grow by 5.8 percent in 2021 to reach nearly 1.88 billion metric tons.

Steel output declined by 0.2 percent in 2020. In 2022, steel demand will experience additional growth of 2.7 percent to reach nearly 1.925 billion metric tons.

The current forecast, Worldsteel says, assumes “the ongoing second or third waves of [COVID-19] infections will stabilize in the second quarter and that steady progress on vaccinations will be made, allowing a gradual return to normality in major steel-using countries.”

“Despite the disastrous impact of the pandemic on lives and livelihoods, the global steel industry was fortunate enough to end 2020 with only a minor contraction in steel demand,” remarks Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, chair of the Worldsteel Economics Committee.

The committee says there is still “considerable uncertainty for the rest of 2021,” saying the evolution of the virus and progress of vaccinations, withdrawal of supportive fiscal and monetary policies, geopolitics and trade tensions all could affect the recovery outlined in its forecast.

In developed nations, “After the free-fall in economic activity in the second quarter of 2020, industry generally rebounded quickly in the third quarter, largely due to the substantial fiscal stimulus measures and unleashing of pent-up demand,” writes Worldsteel.

The association notes, however, that activity levels remained below the pre-pandemic level at the end of 2020. As a result, the developed world’s steel demand recorded a decline of 12.7 percent in 2020.

Predicts Worldsteel, “We will see substantial recovery in 2021 and 2022, with growth of 8.2 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. However, steel demand in 2022 will still fall short of 2019 levels.”

Despite high infection levels, the United States economy was able to rebound strongly from the first wave thanks in part to substantial fiscal stimulus that supported consumption. This helped durable goods manufacturing, but overall U.S. steel demand fell by 18 percent in 2020.

The Biden administration has announced a $2 trillion fiscal proposal containing provisions for substantial infrastructure investment over a multiyear period. The plan will be subject to negotiations in Congress.

Almost any resulting plan will have upside potential for steel demand. However, despite this and fast progress in vaccinations, steel demand recovery will be constrained in the short term by a weak rebound in the non-residential construction and energy sectors. The automotive sector is expected to recover strongly.

In the European Union, steel-consuming sectors suffered severely from the first lockdown measures in 2020 but experienced a stronger than expected postlockdown rebound in manufacturing activities due to supportive government measures and pent-up demand, says Worldsteel.

Accordingly, steel demand in 2020 in the EU 27 nations and the United Kingdom ended with a better-than-expected 11.4 percent contraction.

“The recovery in 2021 and 2022 is expected to be healthy, driven by recovery in all steel-using sectors, especially the automotive sector and public construction initiatives,” Worldsteel says. So far, the EU’s recovery momentum has not been derailed by ongoing COVID-19 surges, but the continent’s health situation “remains fragile,” the association adds.

Scrap-importing electric arc furnace (EAF) mill-heavy Turkey “suffered a deep contraction in 2019 due to the currency crisis of 2018, [but] maintained the recovery momentum that started in late 2019 due to construction activities,” Worldsteel says. The recovery momentum there will continue, and steel demand is expected to return to the precurrency crisis level in 2022, says the group.

The economy of South Korea, another scrap importing nation, escaped a large decline in gross domestic product thanks to better management of the pandemic, and it saw positive momentum in facility investment and construction.

Nevertheless, steel demand contracted by 8 percent in 2020 because of contraction in the auto and shipbuilding sectors. In 2021-22, these two sectors will lead the recovery, which will be further supported by the continued strength in facility investment and government infrastructure programs. Nevertheless, steel demand in 2022 is not expected to return to the pre-pandemic level.

India suffered severely from an extended period of severe lockdown, which brought most industrial and construction activities to a standstill. However, the economy has been recovering strongly since August, (much sharper than expected, says Worldsteel), with the resumption of government projects and pent-up consumption demand.

India’s steel demand fell by 13.7 percent in 2020 but is expected to rebound by 19.8 percent to exceed the 2019 level in 2021, likely providing good news for ferrous scrap exporters. The growth-oriented government agenda will drive India’s steel demand up, while private investment will take longer to recover.

The Japanese economy also was dealt a severe blow from the pandemic because of the interruption of broad economic activity and weak confidence that added to the effect of an October 2019 consumption tax hike. With a particularly pronounced fall in auto production, steel demand declined by 16.8 percent in 2020. The recovery in Japan’s steel demand will be moderate, driven by a rebound in the automotive sector with recovering exports and industrial machinery because of a worldwide recovery in capital spending, according to Worldsteel.

In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, disruptions to construction projects hit the fast-growing steel market, and steel demand contracted by 11.9 percent in 2020.

Malaysia (which imports significant amounts of scrap from the U.S.) and the Philippines were the most severely hit, while Vietnam and Indonesia saw only a modest decline in steel demand. Recovery will be driven by a gradual resumption of construction activities and tourism, which will accelerate in 2022.

In China, the construction sector had a fast recovery from April 2020 onward, supported by infrastructure investment. For 2021 and onward, real estate investment growth may decrease in light of the government’s guidance to slow down growth in that sector.

Investment in infrastructure projects in 2020 reported tempered growth of 0.9 percent. However, as the Chinese government has kicked off a number of new projects to support the economy, the growth in infrastructure investment is expected to pick up in 2021 and continue to affect steel demand in 2022.

In the manufacturing sector, automotive production has been recovering strongly since May 2020. For all of 2020, auto production declined by only 1.4 percent. Other manufacturing sectors have shown growth because of strong export demand.

Overall in China, apparent steel use rose by 9.1 percent in 2020. In 2021, it is expected stimulus measures introduced in 2020 will largely remain in place to ensure continued reasonable growth in the economy. As a result, most steel-consuming sectors will show moderate growth and China's steel demand is expected to grow by 3 percent in 2021. In 2022, steel demand growth will “decelerate to percent as the effect of the 2020 stimulus subsides, and the government focuses on more sustainable growth,” according to Worldsteel.

Construction industry association urges full vaccination of sector workforce, offers resources.

The Arlington, Virginia-based Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is part of an alliance of trade groups calling COVID-19 vaccination a “vital safety issue.” The AGC and the other groups say they are partnering with the Atlanta-based Centers Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to spend the week of April 19-23 urging construction workers to get vaccinated.

As part of the campaign, the association will distribute educational materials about the vaccine, as well releasing an industry public service announcement urging construction workers to get their shots.

“Construction workers have long looked after the welfare of their colleagues, reminding them to stay safe, wear the right gear and be aware of their surroundings,” says Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s CEO. “Getting their shot is another way workers can protect their colleagues, as well as their loved ones and community members.”

The association says it is working with the members of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (which is backed by the AGC and 24 other associations) to make sure the vaccination awareness campaign reaches as many construction workers as possible.

As part of the effort, the association says it has compiled resources, including information from the CDC, that member firms can share with workers, subcontractors and partners about the safety, effectiveness and availability of COVID-19 vaccines in their area.

Sandherr says the association also is asking its member firms to dedicate time during the week of April 19-23 to share resources with their workers and subcontractors about the vaccine. AGC says it has created toolbox talks and a public service announcement featuring a message from Sandherr and CDC officials, which firms can use while talking to workers.

The association is also partnering with the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to host a vaccination education webinar for the industry. During the webinar, CDC personnel will provide information on the current COVID-19 vaccines, the rollout of vaccines to construction workers and answer questions.

“The construction industry showed America how to work safely during the early days of the pandemic, and now we are going to show America how important it is to get their vaccines as soon as they can,” says Sandherr.