Market

| Although volumes, prices and confidence are all down, BIR Plastics Committee Chairman Surendra Patawari Borad of Belgium-based Gemini Corporation NV still spied “some silver linings in the grey clouds” for plastics recyclers.

| At the BIR Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee meeting in Prague on October 27, its Chairman Joost van Kleef of Oryx Stainless described 2015 “as one of the most challenging years to date for the stainless steel recycling industry”.

| “All parties expressed their awareness that co-operation between recyclers and tyre producers is needed to solve the short-, medium- and long-term problems endangering a sound economic environment for the tyre recycling industry.” So said BIR Tyres Committee Chairman Ruud Burlet of Netherlands-based Rubber Resources in summarising the committee’s latest gathering in Prague on October 26.

| 2015 has been “a very tough year” in which the “bad economic climate” has led to adverse effects on companies’ budgets and employment plans. So said the BIR Non-Ferrous Metals Division’s President David Chiao of the Uni-All Group in the USA at the body’s meeting in Prague on October 26.

| Despite the general focus of attention on China’s economic slowdown, the country’s imports of recovered paper from Europe have mounted a stout recovery in 2015, according to data presented by Ranjit Singh Baxi of UK-based J & H Sales International to the BIR Paper Division meeting held in Prague on October 26 under the presidency of Reinhold Schmidt of Recycling Karla Schmidt in Germany.

| Billet exports from China “at ever-decreasing prices” have been “truly the cause of the present condition of ferrous scrap values”, BIR Ferrous Division President William Schmiedel of Sims Metal Management in the USA told the body’s latest gathering in Prague on October 27.

| Revised data on the EU steel market suggest that demand could grow by 1.5% in 2015, on a par with the expected rise in activity of the EU steel consuming sectors. However, third country suppliers rather than domestic producers will be the main beneficiaries from demand growth in the EU market. Weakening domestic order intakes signal that steel buyers are remaining very cautious.

| On 24 November 2015, the annual Petcore Europe Conference will take place in Brussels. The conference brings together more than 100 experts and leaders from the whole PET value chain in Europe and beyond as well as representatives from the European institutions. This year, the conference will focus on the four key aspects Sustainability, Circular Economy, Innovation and Globalisation.

| Terex Corporation has named John L. Garrison, Jr. Chief Executive Officer and President effective November 2, 2015. He will also become a member of the Terex Board of Directors effective November 2, 2015.

| Today, Umicore and IndustriALL Global Union renewed their Global framework Agreement on Sustainable Development for a period of four years. The agreement covers human rights (including collective bargaining and equal opportunities), safe and healthy working conditions and environmental considerations.

| Starlinger Recycling Technology has relaunched its Recostar universal line with revamped technology and design. According to the company, the new version features greater process variety, simplicity and ease of operation, as well as reduced energy consumption.

| Terex Finlay recently hosted a UK customer open day in Doncaster, United Kingdom. The event attracted over 200 end user customers from the UK, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Lithuania, Germany, Poland and Russia.

| The battery recycling sector needs to adjust to the increasing volumes of lithium-ion batteries on the market. The number of lithium-ion batteries currently in use is constantly growing, particularly in the fields of electronics and electric mobility. This fact became evident last week in Montreux, Switzerland, where the international battery recycling industry came together at the International Congress for Battery Recycling ICBR 2015.

| Umicore today announced plans for significant investments at its site in Olen, Belgium. The investments, which are likely to total some €25 million, would centre on the upgrade of the cobalt refining and recycling plant. They would also involve the modernization of a number of on-site facilities in order to further improve the EHS performance of the site.