Ferrous Scrap: Republic Steel Closing - End of an Era

The announcement that Republic Steel in Canton, Ohio, is going to permanently cease operations disappointed many scrap suppliers in Ohio and Pennsylvania. For decades this mill accepted scrap that other mills would reject. Over the past 20 years or so, scrap quality has been the code word preached by users to the scrap community. The trouble is all scrap is not quality scrap. Just think about the many places from which scrap ends up at dealers’ yards. Despite sophisticated preparation methods employed by scrap processors, some scrap cannot be brought up to quality demanded by the majority of mills, especially sheet-makers.

Some scrap has non-ferrous and non-metallic attachments that cannot be easily removed or separated. Other scrap has higher alloy residuals, which mills and foundries prohibit. And some scrap is too thin and too old, mainly #2 heavy melt steel (HMS). All this material needs some place to go. They can’t just toss it away or pile it up.

Stephen Miller

Stephen Miller started his career in the scrap metal industry in 1978 at Luria Brothers in Cleveland. Over the last 40-plus years, he has worked in all capacities in the trading business. He has had positions in both domestic and international scrap trading. In addition to scrap, Miller was at the forefront of the pig iron trade and established a pig iron distribution company under the name of Ferrosource, Inc. Most recently, Miller has concentrated on the scrap export market and regularly does consulting for several companies in the industry.