40%, and more than one-half of the
approximately 40 ingot makers were
closed. The foundry industry underwent
a similar contraction. After a period of
stabilization and even growth in the late
1980's, contraction in this industry
resumed in the early 1990's as a response
to numerous environmental regulations
including: stricter atmospheric lead
emissions standards and worker exposure
limits; water discharge regulations; and
land-fill  disposal  restrictions  for
contaminated foundry sands.
Lead associated with copper scrap
continued to pose additional obstacles to
the recycling of copper alloy scrap. New
drinking water standards required the
lowering of the lead content of potable
water supplies and may require the
complete elimination of lead from brass
used in plumbing fixtures for potable
water supplies. The addition of up to 8 %
lead in brass castings and rod greatly
improves machineability and casting
characteristics.  While research  to
develop new low-lead or lead-free alloys
was underway, little effort was being
expended to develop the technology to
remove lead from existing alloys.
Without new technology, these materials
could be precluded as feed stock for
low-lead or lead free alloy production.
The existence of lead stabilizers in the
PVC coverings of copper wire and cable
posed a threat to recycling of these
materials. The lead-content could result
in the waste or "fluff" from wire
chopping operations being regulated as a
hazardous waste, adding to handling and
disposal costs.
Annual Review
The oversupply of copper that led to
rising global inventories during 1992
persisted into 1993, for while world
refined production and capacity increased
slightly, world demand for refined copper
remained stagnant. According to data
collected by the International Copper
Study Group (ICSG) total world
consumption of refined copper remained
unchanged in 1993 at 11. 1 Mmt.
Demand in Western Europe was
particularly poor, falling by almost 10% .


Weak demand in Japan was partially
offset by growth in other Asian markets.
Refined copper demand in the United
States and Canada, however, ran counter
to the world trend, rising by 8.5% and
19%, respectively. As a result of these
trends, prices for copper and copper
scrap moved downward throughout the
year, except for a mid-year period when
prices were artificially high, reportedly
owing to market manipulation. In 1993,
the major copper consuming nations or
areas of the world were Europe (36%),
the United States (21%), and the Middle
East and Asia (35%).
In the United States, five secondary
smelters and six fire refineries were
processing scrap during 1993.  Nine
electrolytic refineries operated during the
year, three of which were dedicated
facilities processing secondary anode.
Several others purchased or toll-refined
secondary anode. About 28 ingot makers
consumed copper and copper alloy scrap
in the production of brass and bronze
ingots and master alloys. Direct-melt
scrap was consumed at about 35 brass
mills and 160 foundries, chemical plants,
and miscellaneous consumers of copper.
In 1993, old scrap consumption,
converted to refined metal and alloys,
was 555,000 tons of copper, unchanged
from that of 1992, and was equivalent to
22% of U.S. apparent consumption.
Purchased new scrap, derived from
copper fabricating operations, yielded
731,000 tons of copper, up slightly from
that of the previous year, and accounted
for 57% of copper recovered from all
scrap.  Of the total copper recovered
from copper-, aluminum-, zinc-, and
nickel-based scrap, copper smelters and
refiners recovered 36 %; brass mills,
46%; brass and bronze ingot makers,
10%; and miscellaneous manufacturers,
foundries, and chemical plants, 8 %.
Unalloyed scrap accounted for 51% of
copper-based scrap consumed, as shown
on table 13.
About 77 % of the copper contained in
new scrap was consumed at brass mills.
Copper in all old and new refined or
remelted scrap comprised 39% of total
U.S. copper supply and had an equivalent
refined value of $2.6 billion. (See tables


9-16.)
Market and Prces.-Copper scrap
prices trended lower in 1993 following
the decline in refined copper prices.
With falling prices, however, the scrap
discount to refined copper narrowed. In
January, the month of peak refined
prices, the average brass mill buying
price for no. 1 scrap of 94.1 cents per
pound, as shown in table 17, was
discounted by 11.3 cents from the
domestic producer price. The discount
averaged about 9 cents during the
remainder of the year, except for a period
in September and October, when market
manipulations reportedly led to artificially
high refined prices and an increase in the
no. 1 scrap discount to about 14 cents per
pound.
The overall U.S. copper market
showed a strong recovery from the
depressed 1992 level, with demand for
refined copper rising by 8.5%. Copper
recovered from scrap, on the other hand,
was unchanged. A surplus of refined
copper led to plentiful supplies, lower
prices, and as noted above, narrower
processing margins, all of which
encouraged the consumption of refined
copper at the expense of scrap.
Consumption of copper based scrap at
brass mills was stagnant, while
consumption of refined copper rose by
more than 10%. On a tonnage basis,
most of the incremental refined demand
was from copper wire rod mills, which
are almost 100% dependent on refined
copper for their feed stock. Domestic
foundries experienced a decrease in
shipments and a decline in both refined
copper and scrap consumption. Foundry
consumption of brass ingot, a product of
brass scrap, was unchanged. Fire-refined
copper (see table 11), the only area of
scrap consumption to experience
significant growth, increased owing to the
strength of tube mill shipments; tube
mills are the major consumers of
fire-refined copper.
Foreign Tmde.-The United States
was a net exporter of copper scrap, and
one of the largest international sources


RECYCLING-NONFERROUS METALS-1993






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