Summer is in full swing, and in the world of scrap metal, that typically means a few things: mills get quiet with their activity, UBC is in peak supply season, and the markets are looking ahead to next year’s deals!
All three of those things are playing out this summer like clockwork.
Quiet time at the mill:
There is a saying in our business that you sell in May, then go away! Summertime comes, and mills ramp up maintenance projects and vacation requests. Many industries, like automotive, see a summer slowdown as consumers spend their dollars on family vacations instead of new cars. Mix in a sputtering economy, and here we are! Yes, it’s a difficult market but not one we can’t manage. We are fortunate to have so many annual sales and talented traders hunting for pockets of opportunity.
UBCs are in peak supply:
We saw a record month for UBC shipments at Schupan in the month of JUNE between the volume generated at SBR and what we do at SMT. How many cans exactly did we trade in JUNE? In the neighborhood of 1,200,000,000 individual cans. CHEERS! A big, hearty thanks to our SMT Operations Team for making all those contracts and shipments happen. An impressive month.
A peek into the future:
It’s hard to believe, but conversations for next year’s deals are already in the works! And in the first week of September, the SMT commercial team will be in Chicago to meet with industry commercial representatives from across the globe. Let the dance commence!
Finally, I want to note my memorable trip last month. I visited our team in Mexico City along with Rachel Dejtiranukul and Sheila Lipsey.
Brenda Hernandez, Priscilla Diaz, and Eligio Flores work in a beautiful WeWork office space in downtown Mexico City. The three work as a unified team, and I’m very proud of the work they are doing day in and day out. Thank you for all you do!
Andy McKee
SMT, President
