NPCA, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, and American Institute of Steel Construction are among steel-user organizations supporting the new American Scrap Coalition, which calls on federal officials to address trade barriers that have helped fuel up to 100 percent price spikes year-to-date in finished-steel products
Sources: American Scrap Coalition, Washington, D.C.; National Precast Concrete Association, Indianapolis; CP staff
NPCA, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, and American Institute of Steel Construction are among steel-user organizations supporting the new American Scrap Coalition, which calls on federal officials to address trade barriers that have helped fuel up to 100 percent price spikes year-to-date in finished-steel products. Our fabricator members are being squeezed by scrap costs, affirms CRSI President Bob Risser. They have long-term projects with established pricing, but their costs have increased tremendously. They are not only losing money, but in some cases their companies are threatened.
“There’s an imbalance in the world market for scrap steel because other countries have erected barriers on their exports,” notes NPCA President Ty Gable. “It is more expensive for United States companies to import steel [and] precasters end up paying sharply higher prices.”
More than 20 countries limit their own scrap exports, including China, Russia, India, Indonesia, and Ukraine. They are protecting their own industries, at the expense of the United States and the rest of the world. There is an urgent need for the government to take appropriate steps to eliminate these trade barriers, adds Coalition President Alan Price, a partner with the group’s Washington, D.C., counsel, Wiley Rein LLP.
On behalf of 3,200-plus steel-consuming companies its members represent, the Coalition seeks to enlist Congress, the U.S. Trade Representative and Commerce Department in identifying and removing steel scrap trade barriers. Based on a high recycling factor in the U.S. carbon steel industry, whose electric arc furnaces processed 60 million tons of scrap in 2007, the group will also promote policies to encourage use of recycled scrap material in new steel products. Companies and industry groups wishing to join the Coalition can register at www.scrapcoalition.com, or contact Wiley Rein LLP’s Price or Tim Brightbill via the site.