Selling and administration costs will be reduced. We should integrate the new with the old systems. And transparency won't mean open pricing like on the London Metal Exchange. It's in their interest to keep the 30-day buying cycles as they convince the mills to buy from new sources every month. Instead, scrap dealers and buyers can transact long-term contracts over the Internet.
Mills seem to have inordinate difficulty forecasting their scrap needs.
Why that is so is a mystery to me. Mills that plan poorly then get scrap-short and pay exorbitant prices. The stakes are huge. Annual contracts could account for 80-85 percent of scrap dealers' availability. Abandon legacy system for e-commerce efficiencies, said Robert Garvey Avoid needless volatility, said Robert Ackerman of Sheffield Steel.