<article><p class="lead">A large fire has broken out at a ferrous scrap stockpile at global metals recycler Sims Metal Management's Avonmouth dock in southwest England, affecting up to 20,000t of scrap currently at the site.</p><p>Avon Fire and Rescue service said that crews from multiple fire services in the region responded to reports of a fire at the Avonmouth dock site from 22:41 BST (21:41 GMT) yesterday.</p><p>On arrival, the crews found a fire involving 20,000t of scrap metal. The incident was ongoing as of 11:00 BST today and video footage indicates that the fire continued to burn, sending out large clouds of smoke across the M5 motorway near Bristol.</p><p>The extent of the damage to the dock's scrap inventory and other facilities was not clear and is unlikely to be until the fire has been fully brought under control. </p><p>Avonmouth is the largest deep-sea ferrous scrap export hub for Sims UK, which is the country's second-largest metals recycler. The company typically dispatches bulk cargoes in the range of 18,000-25,000t from the port, at a rate of one to two cargoes a month, according to vessel tracking data processed by <i>Argus</i>.</p><p>The <i>Argus</i> vessel tracker indicates that the most recent bulk scrap shipment from Avonmouth was an estimated 25,000t cargo dispatched on 22 September, headed for Turkey. </p><p>An estimated 454,000t of ferrous scrap was exported via deep-sea bulk shipment from Avonmouth in 2019, and an estimated 305,000t has been shipped in 2020 to date. </p><p class="bylines">By Ronan Murphy</p></article>
