INTERVIEW: US metals recycler Greenwave sees surge in demand after tariff announcements

US metals recycler Greenwave Technologies has seen a rise in domestic bids for their steel after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on all steel imports, Isaac Dietrich, CFO of Greenwave, said in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Virigina-based Greenwave primarily supplies domestically sourced recycled steel to steel mills, and also sells secondary aluminum, copper, and rare earth metals. Dietrich said that major steel manufacturers, including Cleveland-Cliffs, Nucor, and Sims, have increased their demand for long-term supply agreements to secure sources of domestic metals. The tariff-induced demand influx led Greenwave to revise its 2025 revenue guidance and increase it by 10%.

"We saw a significant increase in bids from the major steel manufacturers recently, and they're going to keep going higher this month," Dietrich told Commodity Insights Feb. 11. "There'll be a significant increase in demand for a finite supply. So, we expect prices to go considerably higher in our markets."

US ferrous scrap prices have risen sharply this month due to Trump's tariff promises and tight supply. The daily Platts TSI US Midwest shredded scrap index was assessed at $435/lt on a delivered basis Feb. 11, unchanged from Feb. 10.

The 25% tariffs on all steel imports, set to take effect on March 12, have led to logistical shockwaves as US steel manufacturers scramble for more domestic supply sources to replace imports.

"Immediately, you're going to have some supply chain disruptions. Both Sims and Nucor are trying to lock us into long-term contracts to derisk from that," said Dietrich

He added that Trump's election win led Greenwave to start accumulating scrap inventory in anticipation of the tariffs.

"We also invested about $30 million in our equipment. We expanded our fleet to about 50 trucks. We purchased the land underlying our facilities, 7 facilities for approximately $15 million," he said.

While ferrous scrap operations constitute about 80% of Greenwave's business, the company has also seen that US tariffs and the recent trade tensions have presented opportunities for US rare earth metals markets.

"[Tariff conversations] started to influence rare earths back in early December. Honestly, it's not something we really focused on until we saw that value increase," Dietrich said. "Now we're making significant investments in the processing equipment and the knowledge needed to be an expert in rare earth metals."