Lowest Prices in years being paid

Do not despair... the low prices being paid for aluminum today will not stay that low for very long.

The price of aluminum is tied to the price of energy, it takes LOTS of electricity to turn aluminum ore (bauxite) into raw aluminum.

When Oil goes down, we get cheap gas... and get less for our scrap aluminum.

When Oil goes UP, Gas prices go up... and so does how much we get for our aluminum!!

I'm not actively scraping steel because my pick up truck is not on the road right now, and aluminum doesn't weigh very much compared to how much we can sell it for.

Aluminum is also easier on my aching back, scrap steel can get very heavy!
I've ruined two pick up truck suspensions and brake systems scraping heavy steel.

If you're going to do this, become a scrap metal entrepreneur, and you don't have a 3/4 ton truck that has both the heavy duty brakes and heavy duty front and rear suspension to handle it... do your self a favor:

Get a trailer!

and do NOT hook the trailer to the bumper.. can't tell you how many times I got in line at Baltimore Scrap and saw a pickup's bumper hanging down to the pavement.

Hook the trailer to the frame, I got my trailer hitch at Tractor Supply in Mt Airy.
(now I'm wondering if Tractor Supply has an affiliate program to pay webmasters to send traffic their way???)


That's all for now my trusty faithful readers, some of you email me, you can comment on right from the blog if you want:)

Fear Not, it's not really cold yet, when it does get cold, the price of oil WILL go up, it's simple Supply and Demand.

When Oil goes up, so will how much we can make digging through the dumpsters.

Aluminum can prices down to 40 cents a pound

The price paid for aluminum cans has fallen... in Frederick Maryland I used to get $.55 a pound and now I'm getting $.40 a pound.

This is because the price of oil fell a bit... fear not, we had a mild summer on the east coast of the US.

Winter is most definitely coming... if we get a blizzard or if we get a violent cold snap, the price of heating oil, especially the price on the spot market will shoot way, WAY up... and the price of aluminum will shoot up with it.

Energy Independence and recycling

Aluminium is refined from Aluminium *ore*, it's called Bauxite.

How does one get Aluminium from Bauxite?

It takes electricity... LOTS of electricity.

So much so that the very first Aluminium processing plant was built right next door to the very first Electric Power Generating Plant - Thomas Edison built the first electric power plant at the dam at Niagra Falls.

Most electric plants in the US are coal fired electric generating plants!

A rather large carbon footprint!

So what's that got to do with the current engergy crisis (and the economic crisis/ mortage crisis/ banking crisis / they're all related)

Save scrap aluminium and there's more oil/ water power/ coal power to go around.