Overseas buyers are offering low bids, but for obsolete grades they could be hitting a processing cost floor.

Steel mills around the world have been able to pay less for their scrap the past two months, but offers being made for heavy melting scrap (HMS) may be testing a price floor for processors and shippers.

Offers and transactions reported by metals pricing service Davis Index indicate buyers from Turkey, India, Taiwan and other nations had continued asking for lower per-ton prices into the third week in June.

Rising fuel (scrap collection) costs and reduced flows into yards, however, could mean there is a price floor of about $330 to $365 per ton, depending on the destination and freight arrangements.

One U.S.-based trader contacted by Recycling Today says some of his ferrous scrap suppliers are reporting reduced peddler traffic of from 30 to 60 percent compared with two months ago. A one-two punch of rising fuel costs and less money received at the scale “is causing some peddlers to just give up and stay at home,” says the trader.

Although demolition projects continue to bring plate and structural and HMS grades into yards for now, a downturn in ferrous prices is almost always followed by a downturn in demolition activity as property owners and contractors hold off while waiting for a price rebound.

“Overseas buyers have been operating under the notion that there’s plenty of scrap to be had in North America, but that is becoming less true,” says the trader.

A tilt in the supply and demand landscape, along with a new processing cost floor caused by inflation, seems poised to stop the price declines in the ferrous market and maybe even produce a slight rebound in the domestic mill July buying period.

By the last week in June, export buyers were beginning to make slightly higher bids, according to Davis Index. The news service reports buyers in India and Pakistan paying about $10 per ton more for inbound scrap this week compared with the prior one, while prices for shipments to Turkey are “trending flat.”

Honors for contractors, projects and equipment providers will be awarded in Europe this November.

Thursday, June 30, is the deadline to nominate a project or company for the World Demolition Awards 2021, according to the organizers of that effort.

The awards in 11 different categories will be presented at the 2022 World Demolition Summit, which takes place in Vienna Nov. 16 and 17.

The global awards have been handed out each year since 2009 in a process managed by Netherlands-based Demolition & Recycling International (DR&I) magazine in co-operation with the European Demolition Association and the National Demolition Association of the United States. A primary sponsor of this year’s contest is Volvo Construction Equipment.

Nominations are being accepted in these 11 categories: Civil Demolition, Collaboration in Demolition, Contract over $1 million, Contract under $1 million, Explosive Demolition, Industrial Demolition, Manufacturer Innovation—Plant and Equipment, Manufacturer Innovation—Tools and Attachments, Recycling and Environmental, Safety and Training, and Urban Demolition.

As well as those 11 categories, an overall “Best of the Best” World Demolition Award winner will be selected by the judges.

Entry forms are accessible on this web page and questions about the process can be sent to steve.ducker@khl.com.

A nominations short list will be announced in August, according to DR&I.

The company says the acquisition adds a line of standard-size cartridges and bag dust collectors, expanding its ability to immediately provide in-stock solutions and quick shipment.

CECO Environmental Corp. an industrial air quality and fluid handling company based in Dallas, has announced it has completed the acquisition of industrial air quality consultancy and engineering firm, Western Air Ducts Ltd. Somerset, England. The acquisition includes Western Air’s patented air control system Inteliair. Both brands will be immediately folded into CECO's industrial air platform.  

"This is another strategic and accretive acquisition for CECO and expands our industrial air addressable market by more than $150 million," says Todd Gleason, CEO of CECO Environmental. "The acquisition adds a standard product offering to our extensive dust collector portfolio and the Inteliair energy-efficient smart logic controls provide significant opportunity for growth and global product introductions."   

Western Air specializes in dust and fume extraction solutions, providing industrial air consultation, design, manufacturing, installation and aftermarket parts and services. CECO says the acquisition adds a  line of standard-size cartridges and bag dust collectors, expanding its ability to immediately provide in-stock solutions and quick shipment.  

Additionally, Western Air's Inteliair uses smart sensor technology to sense demand, adjust and control airflow and particulate matter and reduce energy costs by 40 percent. Applications include hydrogen extract systems for offshore wind, waste extraction for aerospace composites and dust collection for engineered wood manufacturing.  

"We are excited to welcome Western Air to our organization and we look forward to working with their leadership team to accelerate growth and new product and service offerings,” Gleason says. “This is another important addition to our leading industrial air portfolio as the business adds higher-than-CECO-average margins, 100 percent short-cycle business mix and niche leadership in new geographies.”   

The city of South Bend, Indiana, is clearing the way for the dismantling of a long vacant brewery there.

A $4.2 million line item in the planed budget for the city of South Bend, Indiana, could mean the demolition process is nearing for a vacant brewery building in that city.

A late June news item posted the South Bend Tribune website says the line item, mentioned by the city’s mayor in a recent speech, is being met with praise by neighbors of the abandoned property.

One neighboring property owner wrote a letter to the newspaper in 2021 asking “How much longer is the city of South Bend going to allow an out-of-state owner to neglect this eyesore?”

The Tribune refers to the vacant property as one featuring a “torn fence, piles of debris [and a] ‘Danger” sign that warns of asbestos that may cause cancer.”

South Bend Mayor James Mueller has the abandoned brewery in mind as one of three structures to take down tied to the $4.2 million budget line item.

A Wikipedia page devoted to the old brewery with a red brick exterior says it was built in stages from 1865 to 1949. The Tribune says it closed in 1972.

In 1990, a National Register of Historic Places form regarding the brewery was filled out and filed with the United States Department of the Interior. That document does not offer a square footage figure, but mentions manufacturing (brewing), warehouse and office space on the site.

Property owners interviewed by the newspaper are unclear about any redevelopment plans for the property should the demolition process take place, with Tribune writer Alesia I. Redding saying a vision from the city should be “a priority.”

According to the city’s website, the South Bend Redevelopment Commission oversees redevelopment, and may also be involved in coordinating the demolition process.

The funding is available through Susan Harwood Training grants.

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced $11.7 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to support training and education for workers and employers. The goal is to help identify and prevent workplace safety and health hazards.  

Administered by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the grants will target disadvantaged, underserved, low-income and other hard-to-reach, at-risk workers and employers. The grants are available to nonprofit organizations, including community-based, faith-based, grassroots organizations, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor/management associations, Indian tribes and public colleges and universities.  

Applicants may apply in the following categories:  

Targeted Topic Training: support educational programs that identify and prevent workplace hazards and require applicants to conduct training on OSHA-designated workplace safety and health hazards;  

Training and Educational Materials Development: support the development of quality classroom-ready training and educational materials that identify and prevent workplace hazards; and,  

Capacity Building: allow organizations to develop a new training program to assess needs and formulate a plan for moving forward to a full-scale safety and health education program, expanding their capacity to provide occupational safety and health training, education and related assistance to workers and employers.  

Those interested should submit applications by August 1. Applicants must register at www.grants.gov and the System of Award Management to apply.  

The department says the grants honor the legacy and work of Dr. Susan Harwood who developed workplace safety guidelines for benzene, formaldehyde, bloodborne pathogens and lead in the construction industry. Harwood was also the primary author of OSHA's cotton dust standard, which virtually eliminated byssinosis, a lung disease that causes asthma-like symptoms among textile workers.