Uruguay: poor prices the proof of slow demand

Having finally appeared to overcome the chaos caused by the COVID pandemic, we now have to contend with a global economic meltdown. Scrap generation and demand are both slow, with poor prices providing the real proof of this.

In other news, MSC - the only shipping line carrying hazardous waste from Uruguay with Basel notification - is now offering far fewer destinations; this is a problem, especially for wet battery scrap as Uruguay does not have a melting plant to treat this.

As a small country having a major border with global giant Brazil, smuggling is an everyday headache for companies like ours. Whenever businesses face problems with slowing trade owing to, for example, an economic meltdown or freight issues, smugglers gain an advantage in collecting and selling metals illegally. This is what can be seen to be happening at present.