Victor Kovshevny, Director of the National Recycling Association RUSLOM.COM, opened the conference.
Delegates were also welcomed by Andrey Savelyev, Head of Department of ferrous metallurgy, pipe industry and metal structures development of the Department of metallurgy and materials of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia; and Aleksandr Anokhin, First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Entrepreneurship of the Republic of Mordovia.
Victor Kovshevny in his report highlighted the key trends in the scrap market that will affect business in the near future, in particular:
- increase in scrap prices in 2023, continuation of global supercycle of increase in metal prices;
- collapse of scrap collecting in 2022 and reduction of scrap collecting infrastructure;
- increased demand for scrap in the world due to the environmental agenda;
- decline in scrap demand in Russian market, preference of domestic plants for primary raw materials over scrap;
- increasing costs of scrap collection in Russia, reduction of readily available scrap;
- new approaches in scrap trade, digitalisation of commerce, etc.