Al recycler MetalX taps Gish to succeed CEO Rifkin

: Metals
25/04/21

Indiana-based aluminum scrap recycler MetalX today named Stan Gish as chief executive, part of a wider leadership shake-up following the 1 April death of co-founder Danny Rifkin.

Gish joined MetalX in September as president and chief operating office of MMX Aluminum, the company's new aluminum slab unit.

Neal Rifkin, who co-founded MetalX in 2012 with his father, becomes the company's president after serving as executive vice president.

Doug Forbes was appointed chief operating officer overseeing day-to-day operations, MetalX said. He previously served as executive vice president of operations.

By Alex Nicoll

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26/09/25

CME EU HRC trade reaches quarterly record

London, 25 September (Argus) — Trading volume on CME Group's European hot-rolled coil (HRC) futures contract reached a record high this quarter, according to Argus records. A total of 478,000t of futures had been traded in the third quarter as of 24 September, exceeding the previous quarterly record. Year-to-date traded volumes now stand at over 1.3m t, with over 400,000t traded each quarter so far this year. The latest quarterly performance reflects growing participation in the contract from steel producers, traders, service centres and end users seeking to hedge price risk amid heightened uncertainty surrounding European steel trade policy and import restrictions. "Third quarter futures volumes increased as some traders took long positions in expectation of prices rising following the imposition of tighter safeguard measures — this thesis was borne out in July but faltered somewhat in August and September, as the reality of low demand constrained physical price increases and weighed on the forward curve," a trader said, adding, "Recent trade has seen some longs rolling forward their exposure from the fourth quarter to the first, given the slower-than-expected physical increase." Since the contracts inception in 2020, annual volumes have risen each year. Current volumes indicate that 2026 is on track to become another record year for the contract if trade continues at a similar pace to the first three quarters. The CME European HRC contract has seen steadily rising participation over recent years as it has become an increasingly important risk-management tool for the region's flat steel market. Activity has been supported by market volatility, shifting trade flows and expectations around changes to EU steel import regulations. "We are seeing a broader mix of physical and financial participants becoming more active, which is helping to deepen liquidity," brokerage FIS' head of steel Robert Belcher said. "There has been an increase in trading, especially on spreads from physical traders, but also on quarter period trades in greater volumes than in the past from banks' end-user customers being the growing trader category in the market," GFI steel derivatives broker Henry Herbert said. By Carlo Da Cas Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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EU steel ETS costs could hit €8.2bn by 2031

26/09/24

News

26/09/24

EU steel ETS costs could hit €8.2bn by 2031

Brussels, 24 September (Argus) — Europe's steel industry could see annual carbon costs rise from around €3.4bn ($3.9bn) in 2026 to €5.7bn in 2030 and €8.2bn in 2031 under proposed changes to the EU emissions trading system (ETS), European steel association Eurofer said on 24 September. "Free allocation should support decarbonisation investments and, in combination with an effective carbon border adjustment mechanism [CBAM] provide effective carbon leakage protection," the association said. It is seeking changes to the EU's CBAM, calling for a significant slow down in the CBAM factor — the rate at which free allowance allocation is phased out — over the next five years ( see table ). This would compensate for the mechanism's flaws, such as the lack of an export protection solution and resource reshuffling risks, alongside the lack of enabling conditions for decarbonisation investments in the current European and global macro-economic environment, Eurofer said. The lobby group is also calling on the EU to extend beyond 2030 a provision under which the main steel benchmark, hot metal, is based on prevailing blast-furnace technology rather than being reduced significantly under assumptions of a larger share of the low-carbon direct reduced iron (DRI) technology in overall production capacity. Without an extension, the hot metal benchmark value for 2031-35 could fall by as much as 50pc, Eurofer said. The benchmark is used to calculate each sector's free allowance allocations under the ETS. Eurofer is also calling for a structural solution to protect exports from CBAM-covered sectors and downstream industries. "Withdrawing carbon leakage protection too quickly risks undermining the very investments needed to decarbonise," Eurofer director-general Axel Eggert said. Eggert said investment decisions have been taken on around 35mn t/yr of low-carbon steel capacity initially planned to become operational between 2027 and 2032. But projects covering more than 10mn t/yr of steel capacity have stalled as the business case has weakened. The group also proposed that all revenues generated from the phase-out of free allowances for CBAM sectors should be reinvested fully in those sectors. Eurofer estimates carbon costs for conventional blast-furnace steel could reach around €100/t by 2030 and exceed €200/t from 2031, levels it says would render the production route economically unviable. This assumes emission allowance prices at €100/t CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2026-30 and at €150/t CO2e in 2031-35, an annual reduction rate of heat and power benchmarks at 2pc, and cross sectoral correction factors in line with scenario "CL 90_50" in the commission's impact assessments from the July ETS review proposal. The association estimates a free allocation shortage of 50pc in 2030, and 76pc in 2031, under the same proposal. The carbon cost estimations also assume that EU steel production is at 130mn t — on par with 2024 levels, and decarbonisation investments are commissioned by 2030 and fully operational as of 2032 — with a capacity of 17mn t of DRI and 36mn t of electric arc furnace steel production capacity. By Dafydd ab Iago Eurofer's proposal for CBAM factor % 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 European Commission's proposal 97.5 95.0 91.5 81.0 59.0 48.0 37.5 27.0 15.0 15.0 15.0 15.0 0.0 Eurofer proposal 97.5 95.0 95.0 92.5 90.0 82.0 65.0 50.0 35.0 20.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 — Eurofer Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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EU car registrations rise 5pc on year in August

26/09/24

News

26/09/24

EU car registrations rise 5pc on year in August

London, 24 September (Argus) — New EU car registrations rose by just under 5pc in August compared with the same month a year earlier, broadly in line with growth since the start of this year. New EU car registrations increased by 4.5pc on the year to almost 710,000 units in August, while January-August registrations grew by 5.3pc from a year earlier to 7.5mn units, according to data from the European automobile manufacturers association Acea. The five biggest countries for new car registrations all saw year-on-year rises of more than 2pc in August, with Spain and Poland leading with increases of 12pc and 8pc, respectively. Demand for electric vehicles (EVs) remained strong, driven by market support measures and a broader model offering, Acea said. But registration data suggest that EV adoption is largely displacing gasoline and diesel vehicle sales rather than driving significant growth in overall vehicle demand. Across the EU, EFTA and the UK, total new car registrations in January-August rose by 5.8pc from a year earlier, while battery EV registrations increased by 39pc and plug-in hybrid registrations rose by 22pc. Gasoline and diesel registrations fell by 18pc and 19pc, respectively, over the same period. By Alice Collyer New car registrations Country Aug 26 ±% Aug 25 EU 708,211 4.5 EU-EFTA-UK 832,637 5.3 Germany 212,563 2.6 France 94,349 7.4 Italy 69,420 3.2 Spain 68,544 11.8 Poland 45,907 8.1 — Acea Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Australia faces critical minerals processing choice

26/09/24

News

26/09/24

Australia faces critical minerals processing choice

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Australia must back shared critical mineral hubs: panel

26/09/24

News

26/09/24

Australia must back shared critical mineral hubs: panel

Sydney, 24 September (Argus) — Australia must invest in critical minerals common user facilities to lower costs for early-stage developers, speed up qualification testing with overseas customers, and support industry growth, attendees at this week's AusIMM Critical Minerals Conference in Brisbane heard. Queensland's vanadium-focused A$115mn ($81mn) Queensland Resources Common User Facility (QRCUF) will be fully operational by November, and will speed up project development significantly over the next 18-24 months, the government-run project's lead, Paul Holden, said on 22 September. The facility's ore crusher, flotation circuit, concentrate roaster, atmospheric leacher, and thermal purifier were designed with vanadium processing in mind, but parts of the facility are also applicable for rare earths, cobalt, and graphite processing. The QRCUF helps small mineral developers bridge the gap between pilot-scale processing and commercial-scale production by providing a shared facility for demonstration-scale bulk samples. This will avoid duplicated government investment in multiple privately owned facilities and lower barriers to entry for value-added processing, Holden said. Australian graphite and anode material developer Graphinex started using the ore crusher and flotation circuit at the QRCUF this month to produce bulk samples of its graphite products for qualification with South Korean and Japanese customers. While Graphinex has its own 300 t/yr active anode material demonstration facility in Townsville, the ore crusher at the QRCUF is ten times the size of the company's own crusher, allowing bulk samples to be prepared within weeks instead of months, the company told Argus . Australian developer Vecco has also signed on to use the facility to demonstrate production capability for its high purity vanadium pentoxide and vanadium electrolyte products, as the company prepares to make a final investment decision (FID) on its planned 300 MWh/yr Townsville electrolyte plant. Planned facility in Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is currently undertaking a feasibility study for its own Critical Minerals Advanced Processing (CMAP) common user facility near Perth. The facility must narrow product streams in its early stages to ensure a high utilisation rate and avoid becoming a white elephant, chief executive of the Minerals Research Institute of WA (MRIWA) Nicole Roocke said. MRIWA has not yet decided on the scope of CMAP, but it will not duplicate the capabilities of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANTSO), the QRCUF, or commercial labs. MRIWA is planning a pod-based design, allowing users to bring some of their own equipment for processing. The facility could also be used by technology providers to demonstrate the efficacy of their processes at scale, Roocke said. Rare earths should not be prioritised in the early stages of either CMAP or QRCUF due to the complexity and cost of processing them, mining firm Australian Strategic Materials country manager Wayne Dicinoski said, citing the rising cost of sulphuric acid, a key reagent. Argus -assessed sulphuric acid fob China was last assessed at $290/t on 17 September, up by 314pc year on year ( see graph ). Recovery of valuable metals from WA's abundant mine tailings waste could be one path forward for the facility, critical minerals lead for engineering firm GHD Sam Taylor said. There are more than 1,000 tailings storage facilities in WA, with more than two thirds of sites at inactive projects, according to the WA government. By Daniel Gage-Brown Sulphuric acid prices 2025-26 USD/t Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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