Working overtime: America's auto shredder capacity grows to feed a hungry global market

Recycling Today, Oct, 2004 by Brian Taylor, Deanne Toto

When Recycling Today last published its list of auto, shredding plants in the United States, in October of 2002, the ferrous scrap market was just starting to bounce back after a prolonged slump.

In the ensuing 24 months, the global steel industry has continued to prosper, feeding a hunger for the ferrous scrap grades produced at the nation's auto shredding facilities.

Recycling companies have responded by upgrading existing plants, replacing some older shredder models and even with several new "greenfield" installations.

The list on the pages that follow is indicative of the renewed health of the auto shredding industry, as few plants are now in an idled mode (as had been the case with some in both the 2000 and the 2002 lists), and several new shredder locations can be spotted.

Among the new shredding locations is a plant in Lawrenceville, Ga., in suburban Atlanta, opened by Blaze Recycling. The newly-installed shredder competes for feedstock in the last-growing Atlanta region with the two Newell Recycling Atlanta shredder plants.

Economists may not think of northwestern Iowa as a fast-growing region, but Toby Shine of Shine Bros. Co., Spencer, Iowa, has enough confidence in the scrap market there to install a new shredding plant at his scrap processing from.

A California entrepreneur who owns auto dismantling locations and a rail car repair and dismantling firm is attempting to build it new shredder plant in Colton, Calif., east of Los Angeles. News reports from the area indicate that business owner Charles Siroonian is attempting to obtain permits for a shredding plant to be built on a 19-acre site in Colton.

In Ohio, a once-idle shredding plant originally located in Cleveland has been shipped downstate to a rural location neat Mansfield, Ohio. Grant Milliron, owner of Milliron Industries, says he expects the 6,000-hp shredder to be running by the end of the year.

The foundation for the shredder plant was laid in August, and the company has been procuring inventory--mostly auto bodies--to feed the shredder when it starts up.

Several scrap recyclers have made the decision to upgrade older auto shredding plants, sometimes purchasing larger models with more horsepower and larger rotors. SchnitzerSteel Industries, Portland, Ore., has been replacing and upgrading its shredder plants, with its Oakland facility having been upgraded in 2003.

Some ownership and management changes have occurred within the shredding segment, including an operating agreement between Chaparral Steel and Sims Group USA Corp. for Sims to run a Virginia shredding plant built by Chaparral several years ago.

SimsGroup will operate the 6,000-hp shredder in Petersburg Va., while Chaparral's nearby electric arc furnace (EAF) mill is expected to remain a significant consumer.

Investments in shredding capacity have increased activity for industry suppliers, including shredding plant designers, fabricators, castings providers and engine and drive makers.

In the United States, the revival of the ferrous scrap sector has largely ridden the shoulders of the obsolete scrap supply, since prompt industrial scrap volumes are not increasing noticeably. Much of the obsolete scrap stream funnels through the shredding plants that are now humming along with as many operating hours as plant managers can sustain.

After the late 1990s and the early portion of this decade had shredder operators worrying about their ability to shred material and maintain a profit margin, the current environment is being enjoyed.

Most shredder operators have a scrap recycling background, making them all too aware of the boom and bust cycles that can affect scrap pricing. For now, though, shredder capacity is in line with a global demand picture that can soak up all the ferrous shred that U.S. plants can produce.

ALASKA

Anchorage

Alaska Metal Recycling

ALABAMA

Birmingham

ACIPCO (American Cast Iron Pipe Co.)

Decatur

Tennesse Valley Recycling (formerly

Denbo Iron & Metal Co. Inc.)

ARIZONA

Phoenix

Metal Management Arizona LLC

Tucson

Metal Management Arizona LLC

ARKANSAS

North Little Rock

A. Tenenbaum Co. Inc.

CALIFORNIA

Anaheim

Adams Steel

Bakersfield

Golden State Metals Inc.

Etiwanda

Pacific Coast Recycling Co, (formerly Simsmetal America)

Oakland

Schnitzer Steel Products Co.

Redwood City

Simsmetal America

Terminal Island

Hugo Neu-Proler Co.

COLORADO

Colorado Springs

Metal Management--Colorado Springs

Denver

All Recycling;

Metal Management Inc.--Denver; Western Metals Recycling

Pueblo

American Iron & Metal

CONNECTICUT

North Haven

Metal Management Connecticut Inc.

South Norwalk

LaJoie's Auto Wrecking Co.

FLORIDA

Baldwin

Global Shredding Technologies/Gerdau AmeriSteel;

OmniSource Corp./Ameristeel

Jacksonville

Commercial Metals Co.

Miami

Ferrous Processing and Trading--Florida

Pensacola

Auto-Shred Recycling LLC

Pinellas Park

Acre Iron & Metal Co. (Trademark Metals)

Opa Locke

Everglades Recycling (Trademark Metals)

Orlando

Commercial Iron & Metals Co. Inc.

Rockledge

Yorke Doliner & Co.

Tampa

Trademark Metals Recycling LLC

GEORGIA

Athens

Carolinas Recycling Group LLC (formerly OmniSource)