Ward Recycling (Ward) has secured its second export facility in the UK at the former Teesside steelworks deepsea port (Redcar Bulk Terminal), according to a company announcement on July 15.
Ward has operated a deepsea dock from the port of Immingham since April 2018, although the company is limited to loading vessels of up to 25,000dwt by the port’s 26m beam restriction. The Redcar Bulk Terminal can handle bulk carriers up to Capesize class with a maximum draft of 17m, given its history of unloading iron ore and coal shipments for the former integrated steelworks.
This facility will provide Ward the opportunity to charter larger bulk carrier vessels of up to 60,000dwt (Supramax) to ship ferrous scrap cargoes to major deepsea destinations. That said, the company faces stiff competition in the Northeast of England from EMR’s well-established network of feeder yards and deepsea dock on the Tyne, approximately 50km away. The company will, therefore, have to be aggressive with its dockside purchase prices to prize material away from the region’s incumbent bulk processor and exporter.
In fact, Davis Index understands that Ward Recycling opened bids this week at approximately £290/mt for HMS 1&2 delivered dockside compared with a national average of £275-280/mt.
Ward exported a record total of 167,978mt of ferrous scrap from Immingham in 2020 – 99% of which was destined for Turkey, despite COVID-19-related disruptions in May, June, and August. While in the first five months of 2021, the company has exported 202,001mt from Immingham – a 271pc increase compared with the same period the prior year.
Ward’s commercial director, Thomas Ward, noted that the new facility will give the company even better access to new and existing customers in Turkey, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China.
Ward also operates a ferrous scrap container business from its Ilkeston facility.