Jan 17, 2022

PNW acquires Washington scrap firm PNW Metal Recycling adds Mayflower Metals of Prosser, Washington, to its portfolio. Clackamas, Oregon-based PNW Metal Recycling Inc. says it has purchased Mayflower Metals Inc. based in Prosser, Washington. According to PNW Vice President Sean Daoud, PNW assumed management of the new location as of December 31, 2021. “The two multi-generational family businesses share an extensive and strong history of working together throughout the decades,” says Daoud of the Mayflower acquisition. Continues Daoud, “This is a strategic move by PNW Metal  to grow its number of facilities to purchase materials in the Pacific Northwest. With the acquisition of Mayflower Metal’s Washington locations, the company now has seven locations open to buying and processing material.” The addition of Mayflower at the very end of the year marked the second acquisition PNW made in 2021, with the other acquisition being of Bert’s Auto Wrecking in Hermiston, Oregon, according to PNW. States Daoud, “PNW Metal ownership and management will continue the organic growth goals to support their local communities they serve with recycling options for metals and other materials of value.” Sellick Equipment Ltd. co-founders Howard and David Sellick have decided to retire after 53 years. The Harrow, Ontario-based business will be led by the third generation of the family with Colin Sellick’s promotion to president. Howard and David Sellick co-founded the company with their late father, Walter Sellick, in 1968. The trio built the company into a leader in the forklift market, manufacturing a full range of rough-terrain and truck-mounted forklifts. Sellick’s engineering, sales and service staff remain in place to continue supporting the company’s dealer network throughout North America. Sellick Equipment is a subsidiary of Avis Industrial Corp. of Upland, Indiana. Avis  subsidiaries include baler manufacturers Harris and. American Baler  Gregory King, Avis president and CEO, says, “We are grateful for Howard and David’s leadership and contributions to not only the organization but the industry. We look forward to the continued growth and expanded offerings of the Sellick line of equipment.” Ferrous scrap trader Nathan Fruchter cites Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Vietnam and Bangladesh as among nations active in the late January export market. Photo by Recycling Today staff. Ferrous market may be poised for rebound Sellers didn’t like prices in January, but overseas buyers are back in the market. After experiencing ferrous scrap prices with consistently upward momentum in 2021, the first buying period of 2022 proved stressful and not especially profitable for processors and sellers of ferrous scrap. Metals pricing services showed export prices from the United States dropping up to $45 per ton and mill buying prices in the U.S. falling by an even greater amount in the buying period that typically concludes on the 10th of each month. A price drop was not completely unanticipated by processors and traders, but several indicated dissatisfaction with the steepness of the January curve. These market sources also indicate a belief that a February rebound is likely. “Export markets dropped but have come up since with the rise in Turkey, and seem poised to increase further if the Kanto offer [bid by a Japanese buyer] has higher values,” a processor on the West Coast tells Recycling Today in mid-January. The Kanto offer, reported by Argus Media, is among several export deals being reported on by trade publications including Argus, Fastmarkets AMM and Davis Index. Davis Index  reports point to increased interest in U.S. ferrous scrap supplies by buyers in Bangladesh and Pakistan. That news service also reports increased import activity in South Korea and Vietnam, although the U.S. is not reported as the supplier of choice. Nathan Fruchter of New York-based Idoru Trading Corp.  tells Recycling Today the export demand is substantial and widespread, and scrap prices were already rebounding in active port regions of the U.S. “The demand from the export market is there,” states Fruchter, although he makes a distinction between the bulk cargo market and the containerized sector. “Demand is there serving the bulk markets in Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Vietnam and Bangladesh,” he comments. “Business is there to be done and cargoes have moved.” As has been documented by Recycling Today and well beyond, making bookings and following through on container shipping arrangements remains problematic, with Fruchter finding few reasons for optimism. “On the container shipping side, containers remain in short supply,” says Fruchter, adding, “It’s not a good situation for containers.” While container shippers continue to chase a future where the situation improves, Fruchter notes, “If one or more ports in China close down for another virus-related lockdown, that could screw up container shipping even more.” The domestic ferrous market in January had problematic aspects of its own, with one source pointing to the behavior of large mill companies and their internal scrap processing networks as a factor. A processor in the Great Lakes region says one mill-related company came in early in the buying period making bids around $70 per ton lower than December prices. Typically, says the processor, “I sell them a pretty good slug of heavy melting steel (HMS), plate and structural and magnetic steel turnings monthly.” After receiving what he considered low offers, the processor says he “pulled it all off the table and moved it in other directions,” although still down some $60 per ton from December. The mill-related company later came back seeking HMS and plate and structural scrap, but by then it had been committed to other buyers. Both the West Coast and the Great Lakes processor say scrap flows stayed healthy in December and early January, although supply issues (along with the container bottlenecks) may yet rear their heads before February negotiations begin. In the East Coast export market, a large shredder operated in the Boston area by Schnitzer Steel Industries has been down after a fire in early December. Also in December, operators of other shredding plants voluntarily kept their shredders on low idle, whether to perform maintenance, give personnel holiday time off, or to maintain minimal inventory in the 14 states with a year-end inventory tax. If buyers and sellers can reach an amicable price in February, however, supplies likely can be found. “It was our busiest December in the several years I’ve been here, taking in 30 percent more scrap in December than any of the previous six years,” says the Great Lakes processor. The West Coast processor characterizes scrap flows in his region by saying “Flows haven’t changed the last few months even though we’ve had some harsh winter weather.” Adds the Great Lakes region recycler, “The week between Christmas and New Year’s was very slow; things still are on the quiet side, but the pace is picking up and we are starting to get busier.” The Woodlands, Texas-based Aegis Hedging Solutions says it has appointed Steve Resnick to the newly created position of chief customer officer. Aegis describes Resnick as having more than 25 years of experience in customer support roles. Resnick will be responsible for “leading an integrated customer success organization that includes onboarding, technology adoption, product support and new product integration” for Aegis customers, according to the firm. Aegis describes itself as “a leader in technology and expertise for commodity and environmental markets.” In a 2021 Recycling Today Media Group article , Aegis was described as among the companies “eager to help scrap participants learn the intricacies of metals hedging,” according to Aegis Director of Metals Trading Adam Jackson. Jackson said hedging can seem mysterious to the uninitiated, but added, “Hedging using financial instruments doesn’t change the physical transaction at all. Your hedges work as a complement to the transaction you executed in the physical market. There’s also no change in the invoicing and collection process.” “Customer experience is driving every action at Aegis, including the launch of the Aegis Swap Execution Facility and the expansion of our platform through organic innovation, artificial intelligence and strategic acquisitions,” says Bryan Sansbury, chair and CEO of AEGIS. “Steve’s experience will ensure each customer continues to receive outstanding support and is able to easily access our collective capabilities.” Resnick joins Aegis from DXC Technology, where he most recently led the Americas Banking and Capital Markets business unit. Past executive-level roles at DXC focused on the energy and risk management sectors, according to Aegis. “Aegis has changed the way companies navigate and manage commodity and carbon markets,” says Resnick. “ Aegis  is in an enviable market-leading position with blue-chip customers, modern technology, proprietary analytics and talented colleagues. As a result, our customers place tremendous trust in us, and I look forward to tailoring our capabilities to meet their unique needs.” Waste Management Organic Growth, a wholly owned subsidiary of Houston-based Waste Management (WM) and Tailwater Capital, a private equity firm based in Dallas, has announced a joint venture to provide financial, commercial and operational support to Continuus Materials, a Houston-based manufacturer of roof cover boards. The venture aims to assist the company with scaling production facilities within the waste-to-product industry. The financial terms of the joint venture were not disclosed. According to a joint news release from Waste Management Organic Growth and Tailwater Capital, Continuus Materials develops and operates manufacturing facilities that upcycle plastic and fiber materials from municipal solid waste into Everboard, a proprietary, high-performance, low-slope roof coverboard. Continuus Materials says its process reduces landfill waste and generates significantly lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than competing products made from traditional materials. “At WM, we are unlocking impactful, sustainable solutions as we move toward a more circular economy, and the Continuus Materials business is one example of what we’re aiming to achieve,” says Jim Fish, president and CEO of WM. “Continuus Materials brings an innovative solution that recovers recyclable materials in addition to materials that cannot otherwise be recycled and gives them a new, purposeful life. We look forward to working together with Tailwater Capital to grow the Continuus Materials business while achieving a shared goal of reducing waste.” The joint venture enables Continuus Materials to develop additional facilities at WM sites and launch its first full-scale municipal solid waste-to-Everboard production plant. Once fully operational, the plant is expected to produce more than 150 million square feet of Everboard annually within the first three years of operation. Continuus Materials currently supplies Everboard to a range of commercial customers, including large national retail chains, industrial manufacturing facilities and distribution centers. “We are pleased to join together with WM and the Continuus Materials team to support a visionary business that is committed to extracting valuable new products from existing waste streams,” says Edward Herring, co-founder and managing partner of Tailwater Capital. “This joint venture is an extension of Tailwater’s long track record and continued focus on identifying opportunities to implement sustainable solutions across the recycling and byproduct supply chain.”