April is officially Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) 2024 month, with the largest scrap metal…I mean Recycled Materials conference making its grand return to Las Vegas. Personally, I had a great time in Nashville last year so it’s going to be pretty damn hard to top that, but here we go with Vegas and hopefully, a little positive momentum in the ferrous trade should bring some smiles to the faces of most people who make it out.
It definitely feels like it’s going to be a tough year and a competitive one at that, but that’s what we signed up for. Let the best team win, but know that unlike sports there can be more than one winner here, as long as we all have the courage and patience to keep grinding through the madness that 2024 is sure to bring. Looking forward to seeing everyone in a couple of weeks, I see a couple Coors Lights in my future, and possibly a cigar on Wednesday with my Pops and Jay Robinovitz… Cheers!
Jennifer Sherman is who I sold my first loads of ferrous scrap to at DJJ…yes you read that correctly, that was her name before she became the social media BOSS that she is today AKA Jennifer S. Betts. We did some deals, I told her that her prices sucked (in a nice way, I think)… well, most of the time but after a couple of years she eventually moved on to bigger and better things than buying scrap from some young punk out in Caldwell, Idaho.
Luckily we ended the DJJ / United Metals Recycling relationship on good terms, not knowing that someday life would come full circle and we would become business partners. Funny how life works. I never intended to be in the marketing business, and I am not sure if Jennifer did either, but what I do know is that there are some people worth Bett-ing on… Pun intended.
Now the CEO of Recycled Media, she is the driving force behind letting people know what the real value of marketing your business can be, and how important telling your story is to establishing your brand in the competitive marketplace of the Recycled Materials and Metals Manufacturing industries.
F.A.F.O. was her slogan, it was her idea, at least that’s the way I remember it…. And she is quietly building a team of people who understand that the only way to build a business’ awareness is to be willing to go out on a limb, get out of your comfort zone a little bit, and let people know what you and your company are all about. Enjoy the podcast!
🔥 Metal Market Trend Updates! 🔥
I hope this update finds you riding the wave of success! 🏄♂️ In this month’s edition, we’re diving deep into the red-hot trends steering the steel and scrap metal industry. Get ready for a rollercoaster of market madness, where every dip and surge tells a tale of opportunity!
📊 Month-to-Month Analysis 📈
🐃 Bull Case 🚀
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 📈 from 38,471 to 39,807 (Increased by 3.47%)
- Crude Oil WTI Futures: 📈 from $78.50 to $83.11 (Increased by 5.88%)
- Crude steel production remain steady ~76%
- HRC Futures are strong with May at $927/tn and June at $905/tn, respectively.
- Copper: 📈 from $3.83 to $4.01 (Increased by 4.69%)
- Aluminum: from 2,236 to 2,337 (Increased by 4.5%)
- Turkey 80:20: 📈 Started at $390/mt, dipped to $376/mt in March, but rallied back to $391.50/mt to conclude March.
🐻 Bear Case 📉
- Iron Ore 62% Fe, CFR China: 📉 from $124.86 to $109.53 (Decreased by 12.27%)
- Shanghai Steel Rebar: 📉 from 3,760 to 3,421 (Decreased by 9.01%) LMC Nickel: 📉 from 17,366 to 16,568 (Decreased by 4.59%)
📌 Noteworthy Observations 🧐
Cleveland-Cliffs initiated a second round of hot rolled coil steel, increasing it by $60/tn with a base price of $900 per ton. Despite predictions of a summer slump in the international steel market, recent actions suggest a potential bottom has already occurred in the USA. It’ll be interesting to observe whether these increases hold or if they are temporary fluctuations.
March proved to be a very busy month for aluminum. Midwest Transaction rose more than 6 cents in the month of green beer and busted brackets.
Speaking of green, that’s a heavily utilized word in the aluminum industry right now. Demand for green, super green, and low-carbon materials is dramatically changing the landscape of North America. I’ve written previously about the flat-rolled recycling capacity growth with Aluminum Dynamics and Novelis, but we are seeing the same type of explosion in the billet sector. Over the next 2 years, it’s expected that the billet capacity in North America will grow by ~2.2 billion lbs.
Due to aluminum’s light weight and superior recyclability qualities (infinitely recyclable and only using 5% of the energy utilized to make new aluminum), it is the material of choice for many applications such as automotive light-weighting, food and beverage packaging, and renewable energy. Demand for the metal continues to grow as does the mandate for full traceability across the supply chain and understanding its CO2 footprint. With customers and end users demanding it, the industry is ramping up to be able to meet the coming sustainability requirements. Even primary smelters are aiming to be lower-carbon, utilizing more renewable energies. Case in point, Century was just awarded $500 million from the Biden-Harris administration towards the construction of a new “green” smelter. This will be 1st primary smelter built in the US in 45 years and will be located in Northeast Kentucky… Read more.
ISRI is rebranding. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries will be no more after Thursday, April 18, 2024. Why? Marketing.
The word “scrap” comes with a lot of baggage to those outside our world. It conjures up associations with terms like “waste,” “trash” or “low value.” You can see this correlation whenever you look through a search engine online when looking for images, legislation and news.
Now shift gears. Spin the narrative. Throw out terms like recycled materials, sustainability and circular economy. Put those into the search engines. Suddenly positive news stories, community engagement and bright images are brought to the top of your computer screen.
You may not agree with the algorithms online but it is the reality we live in today. And we, those in the industry, are partially at fault for this.
The scrap world we live in has been under the radar for years, decades and generations. If we kept what we did off the table, underground and out of sight, no one would bother us, right? Well, by doing so, we let others tell our story, set the stage and dictate our narrative.
ISRI is giving our industry the opportunity to start afresh and break out of the previous (incorrect) stigmas our industry has been shackled to in the past. By giving us a rebrand, ISRI is giving all of us a launching pad to get online and share our authentic selves, companies and industry to the public.
Are you ready to get online? Step out of your comfort zone. Put yourself, your company and your industry online to showcase to the world what we are about – the economy, the environment and our communities.
(And if you love the word scrap, showcase to the world why the word scrap has incorrectly been stigmatized and correct it by positively getting out there.)
Metals Recycling Industry to Expand | MAR ‘24 https://americanrecycler.com/9448-2/
Greenwave Technology Solutions adds AI features to its scrap metal pricing engine | MAR ‘24 https://www.recyclingproductnews.com/article/41606/greenwave-technology-solutions-adds-ai-features-to-its-scrap-metal-pricing-engine
In our daily encounters, we’re often bombarded with new challenges. It’s not the problems themselves, but rather how we approach them that defines our success or failure. Anyone entrenched in the world of recycled materials understands the necessity of mastering The Art of Not Giving a F*ck about trivial issues and honing in on what truly matters. Mark Manson’s book serves as a valuable guide for our community, reminding us to reevaluate our priorities and realign our goals with what genuinely resonates with us.
One of the many insightful quotes in the book is from Albert Camus:
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
This encapsulates the essence of enjoying the journey without fixating solely on the destination. Adversity is inevitable for all of us, but how we navigate through it is within our control.
Learning to dismiss the unimportant and focusing on what truly matters—our happiness—is key. This book provides practical insights and strategies to help readers realign with their core values and priorities and to just not give a fuck about the bullshit we all deal with every day.
Stay Scrappy,
Nick Snyder
Usually the start of baseball season means $20 beers and hot dogs with no ketchup (depending on your region), but if you’re not trying to stack cups and get thrown out at the top of the 2nd inning let’s opt for a dry Sauvignon Blanc. This pairs well with shellfish, a goat cheese based charcuterie board, or a doubleheader without a rain delay.
Cheers, Marissa