Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparks loss-inducing costs in steel, containerboard sectors.

Restricted access to Russian natural gas and oil in Europe has quickly led to production cutbacks at facilities that consume scrap materials in nations there, including Germany and Italy.

In Germany’s steel sector, the Düsseldorf-based Federal Association of German Steel Recycling and Waste Disposal Companies e.V. (BDSV) say in a mid-March press release that “the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine at the end of February has far-reaching effects on German and European industry, including steel recycling companies.”

The BDSV thus called for elected officials “to initiate financial relief for affected companies as quickly as possible so that the climate protection goals laid down in the EU Green Deal can be achieved.”

According to BDSV General Manager Thomas Junker, “The steel recycling industry is particularly affected by the already extremely high energy costs. Electricity costs are currently highly volatile in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. These price increases are a major burden for our member companies because steel recycling requires large amounts of energy in order to be able to produce and supply valuable raw materials for the steel industry and foundries.”

BDSV President Andreas Schwenter says, “Companies from the steel recycling industry make a valuable contribution to the circular economy and thus to the urgently needed decarbonization of the industry. However, they can only fully fulfill this important task if the energy supply is secured and energy can be purchased at reasonable prices. This requires support from politicians in order to noticeably relieve the burden on companies and to get effective instruments on the way to lowering energy prices.”

A mid-March AP news item reports both steel mills and recycled-content containerboard mills in that nation are being idled because of sudden supply cutbacks to natural gas and other Russian-supplied energy sources.

In the metals sector, AP says steel producer Acciaierie Venete idled three of its steel mills in Italy “for a few days” in March as energy prices “spiked to 10 times above normal.” It quotes an executive of the firm as saying, “Never, ever has this happened that we had to shut down ovens.”

In the containerboard sector, AP quotes Francesco Zago, CEO of Italy-based paper and packaging manufacturer Pro-Gest, as saying that after price spikes, the board producer found itself “facing huge losses.”

The paperboard CEO told the news service the company had suspended operations at six recycled-content paperboard mills, and that to resume operations Pro-Gest would have to “nearly double prices” from 680 euros ($743) per ton to 1,200 euros ($1,310), which he called “not doable on the marketplace.”

Brussels-based association asks exchange to address unacknowledged factors affecting its nickel pricing.

Brussels-bases Eurofer, which represents companies that produce both carbon steel and stainless steel in Europe, has called on the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) “to take the necessary action to resolve the massive, artificial fluctuations in nickel prices and impose indispensable measures to ensure it does not reoccur.”

Eurofer says it also is requesting “a commitment on transparency on moves by single or group of market participants exceeding regular participation and trading limits.” The LME temporarily ceased trading on its nickel contract on March 8.

The financial press has reported that extreme moves in nickel pricing volatility in late February and early March has been assigned in part to forward trading moves made by China-based stainless steel producer Tsinghshan Holding Group.

“In the last days, and since markets opened on March 7 in particular, we have seen an unprecedented surge in nickel prices that cannot be explained by supply and demand, nor by the sanctions recently imposed on Russia,” says Axel Eggert, director general of the European steel association Eurofer. Adds Eggert, “No other commodity has seen the same price increase as nickel in recent days.”

This is not the first time that such market anomalies have occurred, adds the group. Eurofer points to the summer of 2019, when “there was a similar situation of possible market manipulation by a specific player. “It is of utmost importance to solve this issue once for all so we do not see this happening a third time,” states Eggert.

A Reuters news article from 2019 indicates Tsingshan also was involved in that incident of pricing volatility, with the firm accused of “buying large quantities [of] nickel” on the LME to “supplement its own output.” That, according to Reuters, resulted in investment funds reacting by quickly reducing their hedges made tied to anticipated lower pricing.   

The LME, as its name indicates historically based in London, was purchased by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) in June 2012. That was just a few months before Xi Jinping became chair of the Chinese Communist Party, ushering in an era of more direct Beijing intervention in Hong Kong’s economy.

Eurofer says it now “requests the LME to keep the market closed until stability and normal price levels are restored. It also requests a thorough investigation of the trading practices by some market players to determine whether they may constitute market abuse or the creation of a disorderly market, or another prohibited practice.”

Adds Eurofer, “Nickel is an essential element of the low carbon economy: stainless steel alone represents over 70 percent of its consumption, followed by the batteries sector.”

“These massive fluctuations in the nickel market can seriously impact both the European nickel users and consumers, eventually leading to job losses, and jeopardize the EU green transition”, states Eggert.

The two will create a recycling solution for lithium-ion batteries used in electric industrial vehicles. 

Princeton NuEnergy Inc. (PNE), a Morristown, New Jersey-based company primarily engaged in the regeneration of lithium-ion battery material, has announced a strategic partnership with Greenland Technologies Holding Corp., a manufacturer of industrial electric vehicles and drivetrain systems based in East Windsor Township, New Jersey.   

The goal of the partnership is to create a recycling solution for lithium-ion batteries used in electric industrial vehicles, as the next step in creating a circular supply chain. The hope is to alleviate a future supply chain bottleneck.  

“Our partnership gives us an invaluable opportunity to commercialize the advanced technologies and recycling processes we have been developing over the past few years, as we seek to help the electric vehicle industry meet its ambitious growth targets,” says Yan Chao, CEO of PNE.   

According to a news release from NuEnergy, the strategic partnership's goals are to:  

create a safe and sustainable recycling solution for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries used in electric industrial vehicles, including electric forklifts, electric loaders and electric excavators;   

advance sustainability efforts in the electromobility sector and further minimize the environmental footprint of shared electric industrial vehicles, with PNE serving as Greenland's partner in ultimately meeting its net-zero emission and 100 percent recycling targets.  

PNE says it will use its commercial lithium-ion battery recycling novel plasma-based direct lithium-ion battery recycling technology to recover the end-of-life batteries from Greenland's electric industrial vehicle fleets. PNE will then produce battery-grade material that can be used in the production of new batteries for new Greenland's electric industrial vehicles.  

"Battery supply and materials availability is an increasing concern as the proliferation of electric vehicles continues to accelerate, with the risk of becoming a gating factor in the manufacturing process a few years down the road,” says Raymond Wang, CEO of Greenland. “We think PNE's innovative, proprietary process can be a real game-changer for us, and we are excited to be partnering together at this important juncture."  

The partnership offers additional, complementary system solutions to meet application needs in organics and construction and demolition.

ML Environmental Group, a Denver-based supplier of equipment and systems for processing solid and organics waste, has announced a partnership and exclusive United States distribution agreement with Scott Equipment Co., a New Prague, Minnesota-based manufacturer of the Turbo Separator and GypStream product lines.  

"When we consider a company and brand as a potential solution partner, the most important characteristics we look at are that our company cultures, values and visions align," says Brandon Lapsys, ML Environmental Group president. "Scott Equipment Co. checks all of those boxes and so many more. They have a world-class product that has been proven in the marketplace for nearly three decades."  

ML Environmental Group, the parent company to Komptech Americas and Plexus Recycling Technologies, says the patented Turbo Separator depackaging technology is a natural fit for Komptech customers in the food waste and organics recovery market. In addition, MLE customers have a new solution to process gypsum wallboard or drywall in the construction and demolition recycling market.  

According to the companies, benefits of this strategic partnership include:  

Komptech Americas customers gain the ability to implement preprocessing and separation systems for food waste depackaging into their organics waste processes.  

The Turbo Separator and GypStream systems effectively complement Komptech Americas' equipment technologies, giving a broader audience reach to both companies, regionally and nationally.  

ML Environmental Group is the exclusive dealer for Turbo Separator organics systems for composting and Gypstream drywall recycling systems in the United States, excluding California.   

"Our recycling systems, including both the food waste organics recovery system and the gypsum wallboard separation and recovery machines, position nicely with ML Environmental Group's vision to offer their customers an end-to-end solution," says Kevin Pedretti, business development and product marketing manager at Scott Equipment Co. 

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