Sellers didn’t like prices in January, but overseas buyers are back in the market.

After experiencing ferrous scrap prices with consistently upward momentum in 2021, the first buying period of 2022 proved stressful and not especially profitable for processors and sellers of ferrous scrap.

Metals pricing services showed export prices from the United States dropping up to $45 per ton and mill buying prices in the U.S. falling by an even greater amount in the buying period that typically concludes the 10th of each month.

A price drop was not completely unanticipated by processors and traders, but several indicated dissatisfaction with the steepness of the January curve. These market sources also indicate a belief that a February rebound is likely.

“Export markets dropped but have come up since with the rise in Turkey, and seem poised to increase further if the Kanto offer [bid by a Japanese buyer] has higher values,” a processor on the West Coast tells Recycling Today in mid-January.

The Kanto offer, reported by Argus Media, is among several export deals being reported on by trade publications including Argus, Fastmarkets AMM and Davis Index. Davis Index reports point to increased interest in U.S. ferrous scrap supplies by buyers in Bangladesh and Pakistan. That news service also reports increased import activity in South Korea and Vietnam, though the U.S. is not reported as the supplier of choice.

Nathan Fruchter of New York-based Idoru Trading Corp. tells Recycling Today the export demand is substantial and widespread, and scrap prices were already rebounding in active port regions of the U.S.

“The demand from the export market is there,” Fruchter says, though he makes a distinction between the bulk cargo market and the containerized sector. “Demand is there serving the bulk markets in Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Vietnam and Bangladesh,” he comments. “Business is there to be done and cargoes have moved.”

As has been documented by Recycling Today and well beyond, making bookings and following through on container shipping arrangements remains problematic, with Fruchter finding few reasons for optimism.

“On the container shipping side, containers remain in short supply,” Fruchter says. “It’s not a good situation for containers.” While container shippers continue to chase a future where the situation improves, Fruchter notes, “If one or more ports in China close down for another virus-related lockdown, that could screw up container shipping even more.”

The domestic ferrous market in January had problematic aspects of its own, with one source pointing to the behavior of large mill companies and their internal scrap processing networks as a factor.

A processor in the Great Lakes region says one mill-related company came in early in the buying period making bids around $70 per ton lower than December prices. Typically, the processor says, “I sell them a pretty good slug of heavy melting steel (HMS), plate and structural and magnetic steel turnings monthly.”

After receiving what he considered low offers, the processor says he “pulled it all off the table and moved it in other directions,” although still down some $60 per ton from December. The mill-related company later came back seeking HMS and plate and structural scrap, but by then it had been committed to other buyers.

Both the West Coast and the Great Lakes processor say scrap flows stayed healthy in December and early January, although supply issues (along with the container bottlenecks) may yet rear their heads before February negotiations begin.

In the East Coast export market, a large shredder operated in the Boston area by Schnitzer Steel Industries has been down after a fire in early December. Also in December, operators of other shredding plants voluntarily kept their shredders on low idle, whether to perform maintenance, give personnel holiday time off, or to maintain minimal inventory in the 14 states with a year-end inventory tax.

If buyers and sellers can reach an amicable price in February, however, supplies likely can be found. “It was our busiest December in the several years I’ve been here, taking in 30 percent more scrap in December than any of the previous six years,” says the Great Lakes processor.

The West Coast processor characterizes scrap flows in his region by saying, “Flows haven’t changed the last few months even though we’ve had some harsh winter weather.” Adds the Great Lakes region recycler, “The week between Christmas and New Year’s was very slow; things still are on the quiet side, but the pace is picking up and we are starting to get busier.”

Steve Resnick is new chief customer officer for Texas-based commodities trading firm.

The Woodlands, Texas-based Aegis Hedging Solutions says it has appointed Steve Resnick to the newly created position of chief customer officer. Aegis describes Resnick as having more than 25 years of experience in customer support roles.

Resnick will be responsible for “leading an integrated customer success organization that includes onboarding, technology adoption, product support and new product integration” for Aegis customers, according to the firm. Aegis describes itself as “a leader in technology and expertise for commodity and environmental markets.”

In a 2021 Recycling Today Media Group article, Aegis was described as among the companies “eager to help scrap participants learn the intricacies of metals hedging,” according to Aegis Director of Metals Trading Adam Jackson. Jackson said hedging can seem mysterious to the uninitiated, but added, “Hedging using financial instruments doesn’t change the physical transaction at all. Your hedges work as a complement to the transaction you executed in the physical market. There’s also no change in the invoicing and collection process.”

“Customer experience is driving every action at Aegis, including the launch of the Aegis Swap Execution Facility and the expansion of our platform through organic innovation, artificial intelligence and strategic acquisitions,” says Bryan Sansbury, chair and CEO of AEGIS. “Steve’s experience will ensure each customer continues to receive outstanding support and is able to easily access our collective capabilities.”

Resnick joins Aegis from DXC Technology, where he most recently led the Americas Banking and Capital Markets business unit.  Past executive-level roles at DXC focused on the energy and risk management sectors, according to Aegis.

“Aegis has changed the way companies navigate and manage commodity and carbon markets,” says Resnick. “Aegis is in an enviable market-leading position with blue-chip customers, modern technology, proprietary analytics and talented colleagues. As a result, our customers place tremendous trust in us, and I look forward to tailoring our capabilities to meet their unique needs.”

The updates include changes to language regarding membership certifications.

Members of the Phoenix-based International Secure Information Governance & Management Association (i-SIGMA) have approved bylaws changes proposed last year that limit the use of “NAID” and “PRISM International” to the organization’s certification programs to remove market confusion between membership and certification.

As a result, members now are to refer to themselves as i-SIGMA members, and only where members have completed necessary certification audits, including unannounced third-party audits, may they refer to themselves as being NAID AAA certified or PRISM Privacy+ certified. All information also has been consolidated from three association websites to one.

“At the end of the day, it means the NAID member and PRISM International member status and logos are going away,” says i-SIGMA CEO Bob Johnson. “They will no longer be confused as inferring any form of certification.

“Certified firms may continue to represent themselves as being NAID AAA certified and/or PRSIM Privacy+ certified,” he adds, “however those service providers choosing not to be certified will be limited to the use of the i-SIGMA member logo.”

After the merger of NAID and PRISM International in 2018 that formed i-SIGMA, the association bylaws created a divisional structure that divided member companies into two constituencies. According to a news release, removal of the divisional structure will not affect the continued availability of NAID AAA certification or PRISM Privacy+ certification but will allow all i-SIGMA members to access those programs.

“With the NAID and PRISM International designations limited to the i-SIGMA certification programs, it will retain the strength of those brands without diluting the names with market confusion over companies which are or are not certified,” Johnson adds. “This will create greater clarity in the marketplace and allow members to still receive the full benefits and backing of their trade association.”

The release also states that association members should actively be transitioning any nomenclature and logo usage since brands outside of certification will be retired. More information regarding the changes at i-SIGMA can be found at its newly updated website: www.isigmaonline.org.

The companies plan to expand and accelerate the upcycling of plastics and fiber into roofing and other building materials through Continuus Materials’ facilities.

Waste Management Organic Growth, a wholly owned subsidiary of Houston-based Waste Management (WM) and Tailwater Capital, a private equity firm based in Dallas, has announced a joint venture to provide financial, commercial and operational support to Continuus Materials, a Houston-based manufacturer of roof cover boards. The venture aims to assist the company with scaling production facilities within the waste-to-product industry. The financial terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.

According to a joint news release from Waste Management Organic Growth and Tailwater Capital, Continuus Materials develops and operates manufacturing facilities that upcycle plastic and fiber materials from municipal solid waste into Everboard, a proprietary, high-performance, low-slope roof coverboard. Continuus Materials says its process reduces landfill waste and generates significantly lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than competing products made from traditional materials.

“At WM, we are unlocking impactful, sustainable solutions as we move toward a more circular economy, and the Continuus Materials business is one example of what we’re aiming to achieve,” says Jim Fish, president and CEO of WM. “Continuus Materials brings an innovative solution that recovers recyclable materials in addition to materials that cannot otherwise be recycled and gives them a new, purposeful life. We look forward to working together with Tailwater Capital to grow the Continuus Materials business while achieving a shared goal of reducing waste.”

The joint venture enables Continuus Materials to develop additional facilities at WM sites and launch its first full-scale municipal solid waste-to-Everboard production plant. Once fully operational, the plant is expected to produce more than 150 million square feet of Everboard annually within the first three years of operation. Continuus Materials currently supplies Everboard to a range of commercial customers, including large national retail chains, industrial manufacturing facilities and distribution centers.

“We are pleased to join together with WM and the Continuus Materials team to support a visionary business that is committed to extracting valuable new products from existing waste streams,” says Edward Herring, co-founder and managing partner of Tailwater Capital. “This joint venture is an extension of Tailwater’s long track record and continued focus on identifying opportunities to implement sustainable solutions across the recycling and byproduct supply chain.”

The acquisition of Civix expands and enhances the routing capabilities of Rubicon’s flagship software products for municipal and private fleets.

Rubicon Technologies, a waste and recycling management software provider based in Lexington, Kentucky, has announced the acquisition of Civix, a routing software and solutions company in Freiburg, Germany. 

According to a news release from Rubicon, the acquisition expands and enhances the routing capabilities of the company’s flagship software products for municipal and private fleets, RUBICONSmartCity and RUBICONPro. The acquisition also helps to drive Rubicon’s growth into additional international markets.

Civix is the developer of FleetRoute route optimization and strategic planning software and associated technologies for data collection, in-cab navigation, tracking, performance monitoring and messaging.  It also provides operational consulting services.

The company has customers in North America, Europe and the Middle East and works with local governments, councils and municipalities, private companies and federal governments. As part of the acquisition, the president of Civix, Paul Patterson, and his team have joined Rubicon.

“On behalf of our team, we are thrilled to have joined the Rubicon family to do our part in accelerating the Company’s mission to end waste,” Patterson says. “Rubicon has partnered with FleetRoute for several years, and now with this acquisition, we will be able to directly integrate our best-of-breed technologies and leverage the synergies between them to bring our customers to new levels of efficiency and performance.”

RUBICONSmartCity is a cloud-based technology suite that helps city governments run faster and more efficient waste, recycling, and heavy-duty municipal fleet operations. RUBICONSmartCity tracks trash and recycling and documents litter, bulky waste and illegal dumping with photos. The software also reduces recycling contamination so cities can sell their recyclable commodities for as much money as possible, and it reduces the cost of collection by ensuring trucks are taking the most efficient path to collect waste and recycling. 

Finally, it also equips vehicles with capabilities to look for critical infrastructure and quality of life issues that can affect communities, helping cities deliver better public services across all ZIP codes. 

RUBICONPro, a complementary product offering, helps private waste and recycling haulers provide customer service to commercial and residential customers through a similar feature set, the company says.

“This acquisition will help Rubicon provide current and future public and private sector customers with an expanded level of service and will enhance our ability to deliver on the promise of creating more efficient, effective and sustainable waste and recycling services for communities,” says Michael Allegretti, chief strategy officer at Rubicon. “The addition of Paul and his experienced team to Rubicon brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our business as we expand to more and more fleets across North America and abroad.”

RUBICONSmartCity is in more than 70 cities across the United States, including Asheville, North Carolina; Baltimore; and Columbus, Ohio. The solution is available to purchase on Sourcewell, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace, the HGACBuy consortium and Marketplace.