American Scrap Coalition to address global trade barriers

As steel scrap prices reach record-high levels of more than $600 per ton and with U.S. scrap exports steadily rising, a group of steel scrap-using industries has formed the American Scrap Coalition and has urged immediate governmental action to remove global barriers to trade.

Steel scrap exports from the U.S have tripled since 2000, rising from 6.3 million tons in 2000 to more than 18 million tons in 2007. U.S scrap exports have surged to Turkey, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Egypt, Greece, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Indonesia, Japan, Italy, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Colombia. China and Korea also remain among the top five destinations of scrap exports.

Meanwhile U.S. scrap imports in 2007 decreased 23 percent from 2006, from 4.8 million tons to 3.7 million tons, as numerous countries have erected trade barriers to restrict steel scrap trade and maintain their scrap for domestic use.

"Steel scrap trade does not occur on a level playing field," said Alan Price, president of the coalition and a partner at Wiley Rein LLP, Washington, which serves as counsel to the coalition. "More than 20 countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, and China, have enacted a series of barriers to scrap trade to protect their domestic steel industries." These barriers on exports are distorting trade in steel scrap, Price said, thereby raising scrap prices on the U.S. market.

In response, industry associations representing more than 1,500 steel scrap-consuming companies have formed the coalition and are calling on Congress, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Commerce Department to address scrap trade barriers immediately.