BIR World Mirror on Ferrous Metals - October 2013

PRESIDENT'S OPENING REMARKS
by Christian Rubach, TSR Recycling

 Dear friends and colleagues,

It is less than four weeks to the start of our Autumn Convention in Warsaw. The economic environment in most markets seems to have bottomed out and business sentiment appears to have improved - or at least, not got any worse.

In the first half of 2013, the Polish steel sector was shaken by the EU economic crisis; crude steel production fell 12.6% while steel scrap consumption dropped by an even steeper 20.9%. Whereas world steel production increased by more than 2% in the same period, the EU has been hit hard by the crisis, and Poland - the country that will host our forthcoming BIR Convention - is just one example of how deeply many EU-28 member states have been affected. And although markets seem to have bottomed out, it is far too optimistic to expect really positive conditions to emerge in the short term...

Read the full world market report in our members' area.