Scrap Industry News

Steelmakers Regrouping

Integrated steelmaker Bethlehem Steel Corp., Bethlehem, Pa., is putting together a restructuring plan that would keep its mills open while possibly dropping retirees from receiving their current pension plans.

In what could be considered an alarming notice to Bethlehem Steel retirees drawing a pension from the bankrupt company, chairman and CEO Robert S. Miller has noted, "This company now has six retirees for every active employee. The accumulated burden of our pension and health care ‘legacy costs’ is approximately $5 billion, and we can see no way to support these obligations beyond the next year."

Adds Miller, "We must, therefore, consider [changes], including the possibility that our current defined benefit pension plan will be terminated by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC), requiring a new defined contribution benefit plan for our active employees."

Miller also says the company will negotiate its current labor agreement with the United Steelworkers of America. "We must fight for survival in the global marketplace, against significant lower-cost competition from imports, from mini-mills and even from the re-organized assets of LTV," says Miller.

Bethlehem Steel, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last October, operates blast furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces at facilities in Baltimore and in Burns Harbor, Ind. The company also operates electric arc furnace mills in Coatesville and Steelton, Pa.

According to published reports, Bethlehem Steel is also negotiating with Brazil’s Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) regarding a possible joint venture at Bethlehem’s Baltimore mill. Another joint venture is under discussion with potential partners for the Burns Harbor mill.

On the electric arc furnace (EAF) side of the industry, Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Fort Wayne, Ind., has announced second quarter net sales of $214 million, a 28 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2002 and a 54 percent increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2001.

SDI’s second quarter average consolidated selling price per ton was $340, 14 percent higher than the $297 recorded for both the first quarter of 2002 and the fourth quarter of 2001. SDI’s second quarter 2002 consolidated shipments of 628,000 tons set a quarterly record, and included approximately 66 percent of higher-margin flat-roll products.

Cascade Asset Management LLC, Madison, Wisc., has moved into a larger space to allow it to handle as much as 150,000 pounds of electronic scrap each month.

The new location on the east side of Madison gives Cascade Asset Management 20,000 square feet of processing and warehouse space. The company also operates a cathode ray tube (CRT) recycling plant in a separate facility that can handle leaded glass scrap.

The three-year-old company has handled more than 3 million pounds of electronic scrap since its inception, and anticipates continued steady business. "We are only one of a handful of firms in the U.S. that can offer closed-loop glass-to-glass recycling of old CRTs," says Neil Peters-Michaud, founder and co-owner of Cascade.

The technology used by Cascade at its CRT facility allows it to convert scrap CRTs into cullet that is cleaned and sold back to CRT manufacturers in the U.S. to make new picture tubes.

The firm’s equipment testing, refurbishing and data destruction services will benefit from a tracking system used at the new facility. Cascade now has 15 employees in 25,000 sq. ft. of office and warehouse space.

Nearly 500 businesses have contracts with Cascade for the demanufacturing and recycling of obsolete computer equipment. The company also conducts a residential computer round up in coordination with the City of Madison and Dane County each fall.

Phoenix Will Be Site of New Shredder

Metal Management Inc., Chicago, has announced that it will install a Newell Riverside "Mega" shredder at its Phoenix location on South 35th Ave.

Newell Riverside, with offices in San Antonio and Moline, Ill., will supply a 120x104 Mega shredder with a 6,000 hp electric motor. The massive shredder will be able to shred up to three automobiles at once, using 1,000-pound hammers to complete the task in less than 20 seconds.

"This investment demonstrates our commitment to continue to be the leader in the Arizona market," says Metal Management chairman and CEO Albert Cozzi. In a news release, the company says the installation is part of a strategic effort by the company to expand its customer base in Arizona and the western U.S.

In addition to the shredder yard in Phoenix, Metal Management has western scrap facilities in Tucson, Ariz.; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Colorado Springs and Denver, Colo. Each of these locations includes an auto shredder except for the Colorado Springs site. Additionally, Metal Management operates scrap facilities throughout the Midwest and Eastern U.S.