The National reported that the usually bustling streets of the UAE's industrial zones, home to most of the country's rubbish tips are much quieter of late because of a decline in the scrap metal trade.
Ms Sabika Shaban the marketing manager for Dubai's Lucky Group said that "In general, the economic downturn has reduced scrap flows as manufacturing and consumption activities decline. Lower consumption activity tends to encourage individuals to hold on to their cars, appliances and other products for longer reducing the build up of recyclables.
Ms Shaban said that “As well as choking the supply chain for scrap metals, the economic downturn also reduced the demand for recycled products. With lower demand results lower manufacturing levels and less metal waste is generated within industries. This overall leads to sluggish metal scrap flows, which makes competition very intense for the limited scrap supply.”
Mr Azad Khan the foreman of Ajman Steelworks, a steel fabrication shop in Ajman, said that business was so slow he was afraid he might be forced to close it.
He said “Two years ago we were getting about AED 50,000 per week. Last year we came down to about AED 30,000 per week but now if we get customers we can make at most AED 15,000 per week. But I still have to pay salaries for my three employees, pay rent and utilities for the shop. Before the slowdown, the rubbish tips used ferrous and non-ferrous metals including iron, steel, copper, aluminum, brass, lead and stainless steel for reprocessing. The metals came from the transport, construction, packaging and engineering sectors. For the most part these same sectors used to buy back the reprocessed metal. Businesses hope things will soon improve "otherwise we are not going to survive.”
The scrap metal business in the UAE was thriving before the recession, with recycled metal products exported after processing. This brought significant income to the local economy. Volume is down about 20% across the industry but some small players have been hurt far worse.