Worldsteel forecasts steel demand growth - Construction & Demolition Recycling

2022-05-21 22:35:53 By : Mr. James Yao

The association has released its ‘Short Range Outlook’ for 2022 and 2023.

The Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) has released its “Short Range Outlook” for 2022 and 2023, which forecasts that steel demand will grow by 0.4 percent this year, reaching 1,840.2 million metric tons, while 2023 will see additional growth of 2.2 percent, reaching 1,881.4 million metric tons. However, Worldsteel notes that the war in Ukraine creates a high degree of uncertainty.

World steel demand grew by 2.7 percent in 2021 compared with 0.1 percent growth in 2020, when pandemic-related restrictions were most acutely felt.  

Máximo Vedoya, chairman of Worldsteel’s Economics Committee, says, “This ‘Short Range Outlook’ is issued in the shadow of the human and economic tragedy following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We all wish for as rapid and peaceful an end to this war as possible.”

He says recovery from the pandemic in 2021 was stronger than expected in many regions, “despite continuing supply chain issues and COVID waves.” Vedoya continues, “However, a sharper than anticipated deceleration in China led to lower global steel demand growth in 2021. For 2022 and 2023, the outlook is highly uncertain. The expectation of a continued and stable recovery from the pandemic has been shaken by the war in Ukraine and rising inflation.”

Worldsteel says the magnitude of the impact of the Ukraine war will be varied by region based on the amount of direct trade and financial exposure to Russia and Ukraine. The effects on Ukraine are immediate and devastating, the association says, while Russia also is seeing consequences in the form of sanctions. Because of Europe’s reliance on Russian energy and its geographic proximity to the conflict area, it is experiencing immediate issues related to the conflict, too. Worldsteel adds that the impact will be felt globally via higher energy and commodity prices, especially raw materials used in steel production, and continued supply chain disruptions, which troubled the global steel prior to the war. Furthermore, financial market volatility and heightened uncertainty will undermine investment.

These factors plus low growth in China have reduced growth expectations for global steel demand in 2022, Worldsteel says. Additional downside risks take the form of continued surge in virus infections in some parts of the world, especially China, and rising interest rates. The expected tightening of U.S. monetary policy will negatively affect financially vulnerable emerging economies.

The outlook for 2023 is highly uncertain, according to Worldsteel, which assumes in its forecast that the Ukraine conflict will end in 2022 but that the sanctions on Russia largely will remain.

Additionally, the geopolitical situation surrounding Ukraine poses significant long-term implications for the global steel industry, Worldsteel says, including possible readjustment in global trade flows, shifts in energy trade and its impact on energy transitions and continued reconfiguration of global supply chains.

Chinese steel demand saw a major slowdown in 2021 arising from government measures on real estate developers, Worldsteel says. Steel demand in 2022 will remain flat as the government tries to boost infrastructure investment and stabilize the real estate market. The stimuli introduced in 2022 likely will support small positive growth in steel demand in 2023, while upside potential from more substantial stimulus measures is possible if the economy faces more challenges from the external environment.

In the advanced economies, despite the sporadic waves of COVID-19 infections and supply chain constraints affecting manufacturing, steel demand recovered strongly in 2021, especially in the EU and the U.S., Worldsteel says. However, the outlook for 2022 has weakened in light of inflationary pressure, which is further reinforced by the events surrounding Ukraine. The impact of the war will be particularly pronounced in the EU because of its dependence on Russian energy and the arrival of refugees fleeing the conflict. Steel demand in the developed world is forecast to increase by 1.1 percent and 2.4 percent in 2022 and 2023, respectively, after recovering by 16.5 percent in 2021.

In many of the developing economies, excluding China, surging inflation prompted a monetary tightening cycle. After falling by 7.7 percent in 2020, steel demand in the developing world excluding China grew by 10.7 percent last year, slightly less than Worldsteel predicted in its earlier forecast. In 2022 and 2023, the emerging economies excluding China will continue to face challenges from the worsening external environment, the Russia-Ukraine war and U.S. monetary tightening, leading to low growth of 0.5 percent in 2022 and 4.5 percent in 2023, the association forecasts.

Global construction activity continued to recover from the lockdowns to record growth of 3.4 percent, despite the contraction in China in 2021. The recovery was driven by an infrastructure push as part of recovery programs in many countries. These and investments related to the energy transition likely will drive the construction sector’s growth for years to come, according to Worldsteel. However, the construction sector faces some headwinds from rising costs and interest rates.

The recovery of the global auto industry in 2021 was disappointing as the supply chain bottlenecks arrested the recovery momentum in the second half of the year. The war in Ukraine is likely to delay any return to normal of the supply chain issues, especially in Europe, Worldsteel says. Despite the slump in global auto production, the electric vehicle (EV) segment grew exponentially during the pandemic, with global sales reaching 6.6 million units in 2021, almost double those of 2020. The share of EVs in total car sales increased from 2.49 percent in 2019 to 8.57 percent in 2021.

The Genesee County Land Bank Authority plans to demolish 2,410 homes.

The Genesee County Land Bank Authority (GCLBA), a government organization that manages tax-foreclosed properties, is moving forward with a $45 million plan to demolish more than 2,000 blighted homes in the county. The proposal was given final approval by Flint, Michigan’s city council April 12.

Most of the demolition will take place in Flint. The total number of houses set for demolition is 2,415, including 2,265 in Flint, 94 percent of the proposed program.

“There are about 7,000 households that sit next to these public blighted properties,” says Michael Freeman, executive director of the GCLBA. “If you do the math, there are about three people per household, so that's 21,000 people who are adversely affected by blighted structures in the city. That's roughly one-quarter of the population of a city that must deal with these properties.”

The goal of the project is to uplift the households located near the blighted houses. This project is expected to increase property values for the houses near blighted properties by 4.2 percent and decrease the abandonment in these communities by 2.5 percent.

Freeman says he hopes to demolish 500 homes by the end of the year. In 2023 and 2024, he says the organization plans to demolish 1,000 homes respectively. The land bank will select structures for demolition by using various criteria such as the rate of the building's decay and the sturdiness of its structure. It is also taking input from residents and the local governments.

“All these expenditures have to be completed by no later than 2026,” he says. “That's the federal grant period for completion. However, we would love to be able to do this in three years.”

During the demolition process, the authority says it will provide the city with the tools to identify privately-owned homes that need to be repaired or demolished.

The cost of the project will be split among three different entities. Flint will pay $16 million, while the county will pay $8 million and $21.3 million in grants will come from the state of Michigan and the Mott Foundation, a Flint-based nonprofit.

The GCLBA is undergoing a procurement process for demolition contractors in the area. Freeman says the organization will rely on various minority or female-owned businesses to demolish the homes in the program.

The GCLBA recently completed a similar demolition project which began in 2014, was completed in 2020 and cost $67.5 million, Freeman says. The organization demolished more than 4,000 homes in Flint during that period.

The company says it will showcase various products, including the VAZ single-shaft shredder and its VEZ 3200.

Germany-based Vecoplan will be exhibiting at IFAT 2022, a trade fair for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management that will take place in Munich May 30-June 3. Vecoplan says it will display a fully revamped version of its VAZ shredder at its booth, 270 M2.  

Vecoplan says the VAZ single-shaft shredder has a modular structure that makes it the right solution for a wide range of applications.  

The company also will exhibit its VRZ series shredder, which it says is designed for demanding applications and requires little maintenance. The key feature of this double-shaft shredder is its rotor. Instead of conventional cutting tools, it has sickle-shaped teeth that are designed to safely break up and shred bulky and soiled materials, Vecoplan says. The range of possible applications includes domestic and commercial waste, postconsumer waste and postindustrial waste. It can also pre-shred waste wood.  

Vecoplan also will showcase its VEZ 3200. This shredder for the refuse-derived fuel (RDF) market is a single-shaft machine. It is equipped with an almost maintenance-free HiTorc drive that is insensitive to extraneous material. The VEZ can handle difficult material flows with high impurity content in both pre-shredding and single-stage shredding, according to the company.   

IFAT also will see Vecoplan presenting systems for mechanical processing and material handling. The company says it supplies its customers with individual machines and systems for numerous mechanical processing procedures and that it delivers “complex, complete plants.” The company says it optimizes material flows and matches the components, achieving high energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness along the entire processing line.   

Through the program, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will conduct heat-related workplace inspections.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP) designed to protect millions of workers from heat illness and injuries. This marks the first time that heat illness and injuries have been the subjects of a National Emphasis Program, with OSHA planning to conduct heat-related workplace inspections. The NEP took effect April 8 and remains in effect for three years unless canceled or extended by a superseding directive.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Vice President Kamala Harris announced the new enforcement program at Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 Training Center in Philadelphia.

Heat illness affects thousands of indoor and outdoor workers each year and can lead to death, according to a news release about the program. The Department of Labor says reducing workplace heat-related illnesses and injuries is a top priority, and this NEP is a way to immediately improve enforcement and compliance efforts while continuing long-term work to establish a heat illness prevention rule. These efforts are part of a larger, interagency Biden-Harris administration effort to protect workers and communities from extreme heat and rising temperatures resulting from climate change.

“Tragically, the three-year average of workplace deaths caused by heat has doubled since the early 1990s,” Walsh says. “These extreme heat hazards aren’t limited to outdoor occupations, the seasons or geography. From farmworkers in California to construction workers in Texas and warehouse workers in Pennsylvania, heat illness—exacerbated by our climate’s rising temperatures—presents a growing hazard for millions of workers. This enforcement program is another step towards our goal of a federal heat standard. Through this work, we’re also empowering workers with knowledge of their rights, especially the right to speak up about their safety without fear of retaliation.”

As part of the program, OSHA will initiate inspections in more than 70 high-risk industries in indoor and outdoor work settings when the National Weather Service has issued a heat warning or advisory for a local area. On days when the heat index is 80 F or higher, OSHA inspectors and compliance assistance specialists will engage in proactive outreach and technical assistance to help stakeholders keep workers safe on the job. Inspectors will look for and address heat hazards during inspections, regardless of whether the industry is targeted in the NEP, according to the news release.

OSHA’s area offices will engage in outreach to unions, employers in target industries and other organizations committed to advancing protections for underserved workers. The agency’s On-Site Consultation Program, a free and confidential health and safety consulting program for small- and medium-sized businesses, will assist employers in developing strategic approaches for addressing heat-related illnesses and injuries in workplaces, the Department of Labor says.

Last fall, OSHA published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to initiate the rulemaking process toward a federal heat standard.

As part of OSHA’s continued work to reduce workplace heat illnesses and fatalities, the agency will hold a public stakeholder meeting May 3 to discuss OSHA’s ongoing activities to protect workers from heat-related hazards, including the Heat Illness Prevention Campaign, compliance assistance activities and enforcement efforts. Those interested can register here.

Recycling Today Media Group has reached out to OSHA to learn more about the industries being targeted.

The company says its purchase of Bobby Wolford Trucking & Salvage will enhance the suite of services DTG offers to customers.

DTG Recycle, Mill Creek, Washington, says it has acquired substantially all assets of  Bobby Wolford Trucking & Salvage Inc. of Woodinville, Washington. DTG Recycle is a recycler of commercial, industrial, construction and demolition material in the Pacific Northwest.

Bobby Wolford Trucking & Salvage was founded in 1968 and is recognizable in the area for its distinct yellow and purple fleet. It has been a dominant force in the local heavy-haul and demolition industry, DTG Recycle says. With this purchase, DTG Recycle positions itself to work with its demolition and site preparation customers on the recovery of valuable recyclables with a fully integrated suite of services. “From site prep and demolition to the collection, transportation, sorting, processing and manufacturing of end products, our customers will now have a full-spectrum solution to what was previously a very segmented process,” says Dan Guimont, founder and chairman of DTG Recycle. “Some of the many benefits to our customers include integrated scheduling, access to other site services we offer, such as portable restrooms and street sweeping, and helping them attain their sustainability goals by reducing material from going to the landfill.” “This is a bitter-sweet moment for me,” Bobby Wolford, says. “I’m certain my customers and employees are in good hands with DTG, and I am excited for the opportunities for growth and advancement this acquisition gives them.” DTG Recycle will add Wolford’s 10-acre site in Maltby, Washington, which will be the site of a newly planned, state-of-the-art facility with concrete recycling capabilities. Additionally, DTG will integrate Wolford's low-boys, side-dumps, end-dumps, walking-floor trailers and heavy equipment into its fleet. Earlier this year, DTG Recycle announced that it had acquired substantially all assets of Rolloff Recyclers, Woodinville, Washington, which operates a fleet of recycling containers in King and Snohomish counties. Prior to that, the company purchased “substantially all assets” of Hungry Buzzard, Bothwell, Washington, and Maltby Container, based in Maltby. Earlier in 2021, the company acquired Milton, Washington-based Kleensweep Construction Services’ collection and recycling business division.

In early January of 2020, DTG announced that it closed on a $32 million minority growth equity financing deal from Toronto-based Clairvest in partnership with existing shareholders, marking another significant milestone for the company after an active 2019. During that year, DTG acquired the Anderson Rock & Demolition Pits limited purpose landfill in Yakima, Washington; the Recovery 1 MRF in Tacoma, Washington; and opened two new material recovery facilities in the Seattle-Tacoma area.