Current State of Scrap Prices February 2009

Scrap Prices,

particularly scrap aluminum prices had the bottom drop out in the past 2 months.

They say pictures tell a thousand words, these two that I took tell a story of more than 50% drop right here in Frederick Maryland: (I learned more about how to use my fancy camera too!)

Before:

picture taken September 19, 2009

After:

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picture taken January 30, 2009

To their credit the scrap recycling centers are not even sure they are going to be able to sell what they buy this month. We shall see what the stimulus package does in the way of helping.

I've been focusing on aluminum primarily because to scrap steel requires a heavier truck and stronger back. I killed two pick up trucks over the past 15 years- the wieght tends to wear out the brake rotors even if they suspension can handle the load. You've really got to have a 3/4 ton or higher and a trailer if you're going to earn honest money on the side in this business.

I'll include this next reblog to cover the news on steel prices as well.

U.S. scrap and pig iron prices continued to drop.
Current scrap price on East Coast hit US$230 ~ 240/ton, shredded scrap price at US$220~230/ton, while H1 scrap price reached US$195~205/ ton.As for the export, because of weak demand in steel products and the cut of steel output, scrap export prices were also very low. The H1&H2 (80:20) mixed scrap exported to Turkey priced at CFR US$265/ton, down by US$15/ton compared with January.

In addition, the price of pig iron exported to Brazil dropped back to US$260/ton.

http://scrapmetalpricesandauctions.com/2009/02/us-scrap-metal-pig-iron-prices-continue-slide/