By Stuart Burns
Pandemic-related lockdowns constrained the global scrap market earlier this year. Consequently, operations were restricted or closed down.
But even as containments have eased, the market has been slow to come back - resulting in rising prices for steel and base metal scrap over the summer.
New EAF capacity coming onstream
Steel, in particular, is facing not one but two constraints.
On the one hand, as new electric arc furnace ((EAF)) steelmaking capacity has come onstream - with more planned to come onstream in the years ahead - steel scrap demand