Initial plans for the joint venture include the construction and operation of a biocarbon production facility to supply Steel Dynamics' electric arc furnace steel mills with a renewable alternative to fossil fuel carbon using Aymium's patented technology.

Steel Dynamics Inc. Fort Wayne, Indiana, has announced the creation of a strategic joint venture with Aymium, a producer of renewable biocarbon products based in Oakdale, Minnesota.  

According to a news release, Steel Dynamics owns 55 percent of the joint venture, with Aymium owning the remaining 45 percent. The entity will operate under the name SDI Biocarbon Solutions LLC.  Initial plans for the joint venture include the construction and operation of a biocarbon production facility to supply Steel Dynamics' electric arc furnace steel mills with a renewable alternative to fossil fuel carbon using Aymium's patented technology.  

The initial facility's production capability is expected to be more than 160,000 metric tons per year, for an estimated capital investment of $125 million to $150 million. The facility is planned to begin operations in late 2023. 

"We are proud to help accelerate our collective goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through this further partnering with Aymium," says Mark D. Millett, chairperson, president and CEO of Steel Dynamics. "We believe this strategic joint venture will significantly reduce our steelmaking greenhouse gas emissions, which are already materially lower than our global competitors, in a cost-effective manner. We also believe Aymium's process can provide a renewable fossil fuel carbon alternative for Iron Dynamics, our proprietary ironmaking operations.” 

The company says it successfully trialed Aymium's biocarbon product in its steel operations, and conservatively estimate this first facility will reduce our Scope 1 steelmaking greenhouse gas emissions intensity between 20 and 25 percent, with potential upside from the use of the facility's biogas.  

"Our mission is to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and reduce the impact on the environment," says James Mennell, Aymium CEO. "Aymium's renewable biocarbon products allow for immediate replacement of fossil fuels with renewable, carbon negative inputs, without the need to modify existing manufacturing processes or equipment." 

Overseas buyers are offering low bids, but for obsolete grades they could be hitting a processing cost floor.

Steel mills around the world have been able to pay less for their scrap the past two months, but offers being made for heavy melting scrap (HMS) may be testing a price floor for processors and shippers.

Offers and transactions reported by metals pricing service Davis Index indicate buyers from Turkey, India, Taiwan and other nations had continued asking for lower per-ton prices into the third week in June.

Rising fuel (scrap collection) costs and reduced flows into yards, however, could mean there is a price floor of about $330 to $365 per ton, depending on the destination and freight arrangements.

One U.S.-based trader contacted by Recycling Today says some of his ferrous scrap suppliers are reporting peddler traffic has been reduced by from 30 percent to 60 percent compared with two months ago. A one-two punch of rising fuel costs and less money received at the scale “is causing some peddlers to just give up and stay at home,” the trader says.

Although demolition projects continue to bring plate and structural and HMS grades into yards for now, a downturn in ferrous prices is almost always followed by a downturn in demolition activity as property owners and contractors hold off while waiting for a price rebound.

“Overseas buyers have been operating under the notion that there’s plenty of scrap to be had in North America, but that is becoming less true,” the trader says.

A tilt in the supply and demand landscape, along with a new processing cost floor caused by inflation, seems poised to stop the price declines in the ferrous market and maybe even produce a slight rebound in the domestic mill July buying period.

By the last week in June, export buyers were beginning to make slightly higher bids, according to Davis Index. The news service reports buyers in India and Pakistan paying about $10 per ton more for inbound scrap this week compared with the prior one, while prices for shipments to Turkey are “trending flat.”

Honors for contractors, projects and equipment providers will be awarded in Europe this November.

The deadline to nominate a project or company for the World Demolition Awards 2021 is Thursday, June 30, according to organizers.

The awards in 11 different categories will be presented at the 2022 World Demolition Summit, which takes place in Vienna Nov. 16 and 17.

The global awards have been handed out each year since 2009 in a process managed by Netherlands-based Demolition & Recycling International (DR&I) magazine in cooperation with the European Demolition Association and the National Demolition Association of the United States. A primary sponsor of this year’s contest is Volvo Construction Equipment.

Nominations are being accepted in these 11 categories: Civil Demolition, Collaboration in Demolition, Contract over $1 million, Contract under $1 million, Explosive Demolition, Industrial Demolition, Manufacturer Innovation—Plant and Equipment, Manufacturer Innovation—Tools and Attachments, Recycling and Environmental, Safety and Training, and Urban Demolition.

As well as those 11 categories, an overall “Best of the Best” World Demolition Award winner will be selected by the judges.

Entry forms are accessible here and questions about the process can be sent to steve.ducker@khl.com.

A nominations short list will be announced in August, according to DR&I.

The company says the acquisition adds a line of standard-size cartridges and bag dust collectors, expanding its ability to immediately provide in-stock solutions and quick shipment.

CECO Environmental Corp. an industrial air quality and fluid handling company based in Dallas, has announced it has completed the acquisition of industrial air quality consultancy and engineering firm, Western Air Ducts Ltd. Somerset, England. The acquisition includes Western Air’s patented air control system Inteliair. Both brands will be immediately folded into CECO's industrial air platform.  

"This is another strategic and accretive acquisition for CECO and expands our industrial air addressable market by more than $150 million," says Todd Gleason, CEO of CECO Environmental. "The acquisition adds a standard product offering to our extensive dust collector portfolio and the Inteliair energy-efficient smart logic controls provide significant opportunity for growth and global product introductions."   

Western Air specializes in dust and fume extraction solutions, providing industrial air consultation, design, manufacturing, installation and aftermarket parts and services. CECO says the acquisition adds a  line of standard-size cartridges and bag dust collectors, expanding its ability to immediately provide in-stock solutions and quick shipment.  

Additionally, Western Air's Inteliair uses smart sensor technology to sense demand, adjust and control airflow and particulate matter and reduce energy costs by 40 percent. Applications include hydrogen extract systems for offshore wind, waste extraction for aerospace composites and dust collection for engineered wood manufacturing.  

"We are excited to welcome Western Air to our organization and we look forward to working with their leadership team to accelerate growth and new product and service offerings,” Gleason says. “This is another important addition to our leading industrial air portfolio as the business adds higher-than-CECO-average margins, 100 percent short-cycle business mix and niche leadership in new geographies.”   

The city of South Bend, Indiana, is clearing the way for the dismantling of a long vacant brewery.

A $4.2 million line item in the planed budget for the city of South Bend, Indiana, could mean the demolition process is nearing for a vacant brewery building.

A late June report from the South Bend Tribune says the line item, mentioned by the city’s mayor in a recent speech, is being met with praise by neighbors of the abandoned property.

One neighboring property owner wrote a letter to the newspaper in 2021 asking “How much longer is the city of South Bend going to allow an out-of-state owner to neglect this eyesore?”

The Tribune refers to the vacant property as one featuring a “torn fence, piles of debris [and a] ‘Danger” sign that warns of asbestos that may cause cancer.”

South Bend Mayor James Mueller has the abandoned brewery in mind as one of three structures to take down tied to the $4.2 million budget line item.

A Wikipedia page devoted to the old brewery with a red brick exterior says it was built in stages from 1865 to 1949. The Tribune says it closed in 1972.

In 1990, a National Register of Historic Places form regarding the brewery was filled out and filed with the United States Department of the Interior. That document does not offer a square footage figure, but mentions manufacturing (brewing), warehouse and office space on the site.

Property owners interviewed by the newspaper are unclear about any redevelopment plans for the property should the demolition process take place, with Tribune writer Alesia I. Redding saying a vision from the city should be “a priority.”

According to the city’s website, the South Bend Redevelopment Commission oversees redevelopment, and may also be involved in coordinating the demolition process.