BIR News

London Calling

Recyclers from around the world will have no shortage of topics to discuss when they gather in London for the 2004 Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) Autumn Round-Table Sessions.

BIR boards and committees will be hosting meetings and sessions on Thursday, Oct. 28, and Friday, Oct. 29, at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel and Conference Centre, located near London’s famous Paddington Station.

Recyclers will have a chance to network at several Autumn Round-Table functions, including a Welcome Reception held at the King’s Suite of the Hilton Metropole on Thursday evening.

Attendees arriving in London before the event can also sign up for a dinner cruise through central London.

Delegates are likely to head to the London event in the midst of active trading markets for most recycled commodities. In the September issue of its BIR World Mirror newsletter, BIR delegates report strong demand for ferrous scrap in almost every part of the globe, and some delegates also paint encouraging long-term pictures.

"Current annual production of 35 million metric tons is expected to increase to 63 million metric tons by 2012 and to 100 million metric tons by 2020," says BIR Ferrous Division board member Ikbal Nathani regarding India’s steel industry.

"Over the next three to five years, domestic demand for steel scrap could increase by 5 to 7 million tons per year, such that in just a few years, Russia could reduce its exports and might even become a scrap importer," writes Denis Ilatovskiy, vice president of the BIR Ferrous Division.

A report from Italy’s Alocci Ruggero sees an active close to 2004 for European scrap dealers.

Those interested in attending the BIR Autumn Round-Table Sessions can download registration information online through the BIR Web site at http://www.bir.org