Benelux

Following the summer holidays, most recyclers resumed their operations by the end of August or early September. Compared to July and August, last month provided a pick-up in overall business activity, backed on the copper side by a rise in the market. Larger volumes were released into the Benelux market and made available to the various buyers. Except for specific qualities, the majority of these extra units found homes with ease given strong demand, especially for the higher-grade copper qualities as well as the alloys. It will be interesting to see whether a continuation of the copper market trend will result in additional units as inventory levels are not that high in scrap yards following the initial sales rush. It will require time to build up stocks again.

As a result of new rules and legislation, availability of motors and CuFe-related qualities remains high. Within the Benelux, continued investments are being made on the processing side for these motors. 

Slowness in the housing and automotive sectors is continuing to impact the order books of manufacturers in the region and to dampen the generation of industrial scrap. No improvements are anticipated in the short term. Slower housing activity is negatively impacting aluminium extrusion demand in our area. In general, there is demand for aluminium but this is not at its strongest, resulting in idle capacity and units finding their way into exports. This latter channel is fuelling additional investments as well as efforts to come up with cleaner and purer aluminium grades. 

Meanwhile, it is currently much easier to find homes for secondary lead. However, sourcing outlets for traditional batteries is more of a challenge, especially in the Netherlands.