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People do not respect the scrap iron industry because they do not understand it, or know how much it is worth.
This is according to president of the Trinidad and Tobago Scrap Iron Dealers Association (TTSIDA) Allan Ferguson.
In an interview with the Sunday Express on Friday, Ferguson said he has been in the industry for over 20 years, having first been introduced to it by a friend.
He grew passionate about the industry, realising its potential to provide sustainable employment and bring in foreign exchange to the country, he said.
But the industry has been looked at negatively because of the illegal practice of copper theft, and theft of other steel products.
Ferguson said this has resulted in people not trusting or respecting persons operating legitimately in this industry.
“They don’t respect us because they don’t understand how the industry works,” he said.
“But it is a legitimate industry. Go all over the world, all in America, in India… thousands and thousands of people are employed in this industry. Name one country in the world that doesn’t do recycling of scrap iron. But it is how some people believe it’s how I look or how I speak, they don’t take me on. Maybe I have to change the colour of my skin to be taken seriously.”
Lucrative prices
Ferguson said the scrap iron industry generates some US$72 billion worldwide each year. In T&T, he said, the industry generates over TT$260 million annually.
He said this is generated through the sale of scrap metal to countries like Singapore, India and Pakistan.
“Instead of using iron ore, they are recycling the old iron to bring back to the original steel, so that is why there is a large industry,” he explained.
He said most of the iron collected comes from household and industrial steel waste, such as old stoves and refrigerators, old galvanise, steel pipes and beams.
He said the scrap iron is sold by the tonne and usually brought in a pretty penny, but prices have dropped significantly in recent times.
“It depends on the weight. Before, the price was all $2,300 per tonne. Now the prices are real low. You might get $600 and $800 a tonne.”
When it comes to copper, however, the prices are more lucrative, he said.
“That is the reason why people are stealing TSTT copper and we have a problem with copper theft. It is because the copper price went up high,” he added.
Prior to the closure of Petrotrin, Ferguson said 75 per cent of the steel material collected by scrapyards came from the company and “when Petrotrin closed down, that caused a serious dent in our industry”.
But Ferguson does not believe this has contributed to the problem of theft.
He said theft of copper and other steel products has always been an issue in the industry because of unscrupulous dealers who are willing to pay for the stolen material, and a lack of regulation.
“When there’s an industry where anybody can just walk in, it causes a problem because you could be a criminal and you can just come in the industry just so and there is nothing to humbug you from coming in.
“People who are not even in the industry find that they could go and pull down wires and carry it to these yards that want to take part in buying stolen stuff.
“So when they buy, they encourage people to go and pull down more copper wire. If they were not buying, all this would not be taking place.
“But the market is there for people to continue stealing because there are yards that are buying it from them,” he said.
Overwhelming response
Ferguson, however, said the proposed six-month shutdown of scrap iron exports is not the answer to the problem.
“Thousands of people depend on the scrap iron industry. Truckers, people who fill the containers, the brokers, the van collectors that go all over Trinidad and Tobago, people that go to the dumps to salvage to bring to our yards… it works out to thousands of people,” he said.
He said a shutdown on exports would only destroy the industry and the lives of those who depend on it for an income.
Ferguson said the association, which was formed in 1991, is continuing to work to improve the industry and encouraging persons in the industry to join.
He said since the association made the call for persons to join, there has been an overwhelming response. “It is rapid. We have a lot of people calling to register. It is going very good,” he said.
He called on the Government to work with the association to address the problems in the industry.
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