German steel recyclers urge state support with transportation woes

The German Association of steel recycling and waste management companies BSDV called for government support because of the transportation problems on German waterways at the first German national steel summit in Saarbruecken on Monday. 

     "The current low water levels on federal waterways on the Rhine/Neckar/Main is leading to severe bottlenecks, for both the scrap collection and the delivery of the secondary raw material to steel mills," the association said in a statement late Monday. As a result, the association called on the six states with major steel industries -- Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland -- to provide support after adverse weather conditions led to the complete disruption of recyclers' deliveries or a rise in their freight costs. 

    The current issues had also drawn attention to broader issues with Germany's infrastructure, the association said. 

    While some waterways are not adequate for the supply chains of steel, alternatives such as on rail freight are in a "deplorable condition" and deliveries by truck are already are already at the upper limit. 

    As a result, the German steel industry needs to be supported by seamless logistics and specific steps to improve the transportation of steel and its raw materials such as ferrous scrap, according to the BSDV. 

    Low water levels on the Rhine and other rivers has led steelmaker Thyssenkrupp to declare force majeure with immediate effect on their product deliveries as the supply of raw materials was disrupted. 

    Collection costs in Europe for scrap export merchants was also heard to have increased sharply of late, several market participants said.