Confirmed: Scrap metal worthless.

I saw someone post a day or so ago about the price for scrap steel being low.

A year and a half ago it was 10 cents per pound when I took a load. Since then I've been saving scrap steel. Today, I needed to get rid of a broken flat screen tv (that's not easy to do here and this place buys them) so I stopped and got $1.60 for it--and a muddy car from their lot. While there I asked the price of scrap steel now--4 cents per pound. At that price it's not worth the gas and time to haul it. To think just Sunday I took a pickup door, an exhaust manifold and a few other items from a guy to add to my pile thinking I'd get a few bucks for them--guess not. I always knew scrapping couldn't really pay.

Well I did get to see another side of humanity. One guy came in pushing a shopping cart with scrap and another on a moped with a light fixture on the back. The cashier said first thing in the AM they get several guys with bags full of cans they've scavenged overnight from dumpsters.

Wow, how much is it if you're buying scrap steel? Seems like the last time I bought any it was 40 cents a pound and I thought they were paying 10 cents.

Confirmed here in central Ga also.I called my scrap dealer yesterday and he confirmed 4 cents a pound.

I don't know. Only time I ever bought from a scrap yard was many, many years ago I got a 4' section of thick walled pipe and I expect they priced it as pipe vs scrap steel.

Scrapping steel seems to be one of the most popular occupations for young guys around here. Seems like they would rather do that all day and live like they do than go to a regular job every day of the week. That "every day" thing seems to be a real deal breaker for a lot of people nowdays when it comes to employment.

Well a dollar made doing whatever ? is tax free ! They are likely doing better than me working 40 hours a week and having the tax man take most of it !

Around here the regulars who haul scrap in all the time get a better price than I could with just a load once a year.

Looks like it's down some here,but not too pitiful bad.
Fair Salvage

Local yard here is at 7 1/2 cents a pound.

Sounds good to me. Maybe now a restorable Farmall M at auction can be bought for a fair price, instead of getting outbid by a "scrapper". Maybe the scrap iron thieves will give it up also.

Well, there's always an upside. Shame I'm always on the down side of the curve.

Over the years I saw a lot of old iron in fields and fence rows get cleaned up. Guess it depends how you look at it.

30 years ago you were lucky if a scrap yard would buy tin. If they did lucky to get $10/ton.

Last year, I got $180/ton for my last load of tin.

You're looking at it the wrong way. They'll have to steal twice as much to keep their standard of living up.

check the price per month over past 3 years if you can - might find cyclic highs and the low is about this time of year. Implication is a main customer for scrap- China- is not buying now since the Chinese New Year is approaching and manufacturing is basicly shut down for a month or so then- so scrap is piled up and money used to buy it is not getting a return. Figure shipping time at couple weeks to a month- don't buy any scrap couple months before New years and the scrap in shipping line gets used mostly by shutdown, money gets a return. Buy some more scrap at new years, shipping time means the scrap needed for steel mill start of production run for manufacturing demand arrives just in time and money gets return with profit. Aluminum cans have a more steady 'local' market instead of main overseas customer, more of a level price structure. RN.

(quoted from post at 13:36:34 02/10/15) You're looking at it the wrong way. They'll have to steal twice as much to keep their standard of living up.

Click to expand...

You're probably right. Most of the scrappers around here have no idea if they are making any money or not. I've stood right there and watched as a 2 scrappers tried to outbid the other on a pile of miscellaneous iron and tin at a farm auction. That pile ended up selling for about twice what they would get it for it, and they still had to cut it up and haul it away.

you got a muddy car,your lucky,,you can easily get a flat tire at the yard,,that really ruins the profit!

Scrap made a big jump up about the time the U.S invaded Afghanistan,and then Iraq. Since things have tapered off over there the scrap price has started to fall. I wonder what precious metals are bringing right now. They are due for a slide down too.

Young men who turn scrappers can make pretty good money. And it's not tax free either. When the yard buys from someone they keep records on who they paid their money out to. That in turn is deducted as a business expense. The scrapers who make a living out of it have to turn their income in at tax time. Oh sure, there are a few cash deals done here and there, but the majority of it gets taxed.

You need to watch the business channels,when the economy starts to go South in China scrap price is going to follow.Just gather it up and hold it I collected about 5 acres of metal,farm equipment,trucks etc when you couldn't give the stuff away now I'm ready to restock(LOL)

I got 2 nails in one tire and a 3rd nail in another tire on my truck once when buying a load of mulch from a recycling facility once! Your right that made me really mad.

That place took in brush and tree waste and ground it into mulch they sold by the ton. They also took pallets which were ground and sold separately. Lastly this place also processed recyclables collected by the city--the stuff is dumped and scooped onto a long conveyer and people pull out and sort the recyclables as it goes by. I'm not sure what process resulted in the nails on their roadways and or scales.

West coast port slowdown/shutdown. Although I did see a truck pull in to the scrapyard in Tacoma where they load out barges just a few days ago.

I live in a Steel town and the scrap price is also down . Cars $125.00 / ton , the norm is 165 and the high was 225 . So , we are stock pilling like everyone else and hoping that spring will increase the price .

Larry --Ont.

Like others have said, it always happens just when I have a load about ready. About a month ago, I called a man who runs a recycling facility/auto parts yard, and asked if he would be interested in four automobiles that I have. He quoted me a price of $225. each and he would haul them off. OK, I will need a few days to get two of them out of the woods. So about five days later I called back and he said that the big company that he sells to had told him as of February 1st. the bottom would drop out, and that he couldn't buy anything right now. So it seems he was right.

I hauled few pounds over 1 ton of tin this morning walked out with 123.00. Went down street and spent on diesel for dumptruck so could haul rock for next few days.

On the bright side, this dip in the market should slow down the thieves who run around stealing it once the word gets out that the market crashed.

Two local yards for me. One run by old timer that will sell you anything he has in the place if he thinks he can make a buck. Other used to be same way but when owner retired and sold it it was bought by a big corp. They now have signs up that says that nothing [b:235a7361ae][i:235a7361ae][u:235a7361ae]NOTHING[/u:235a7361ae][/i:235a7361ae][/b:235a7361ae] on the premises is for sale don't even ask. Guy I know was in the place and saw a fairly decent Allis B and asked somebody about it and they said no way. He pushed a little bit and they said they do not sell anything period and once it is on the property it is going to be melted, end of story don't ask again.

I don't haul scrap to make money. When the scrap tub gets full it goes to the scrap yard so I don't accumulate junk. Last week I hauled 2900 pounds of mixed including 12 truck brake drums and the rest just scrap cutoff stuff. Got $140/ton for it. The scrap yard was a ghost town, I went right through without waiting. A year and a halaf ago I'd have to wait in line and they had mountains of scrap. Not they have a few small piles.

That's sad. I'm sure they are focused on processing stuff efficiently.

Lets assume they paid .04 a pound for 2000 lbs of metal in a B. I have no idea what they sell it for but lets say .10 a pound when loaded in the rail car headed out of their lot. They paid some scrapper $80 for the B. In a day or so as part of normal operation an employee will reach over and grab that B with a crane and drop it in a railroad car and they'd make $200 ($120 profit). Simple and easy.

But if they sell stuff on their lot now they have people dropping by picking through stuff, possibly risking injury doing so (liability concerns). Plus people stopping their employees and interrupting their profitable work with questions and prices on things. These people of course assume things are being sold at scrap prices--why not, I mean $200 for loading it on a rail car or $200 from them what's the diff? But there is a difference, These buyers have interrupted profitable work right off. Next let's assume they actually agree on a price. Next these buyers will need help loading or else they will clog up the yard with a truck trailer and all kinds of hazardous, jerry-rigged loading attempts. What would you have to sell that B for to make up for all that????

I posted awhile back about selling 20 foot sections of PVC pipe and how I now tell people loading and tie-down is completely their responsibility on the phone before they show up. I started because too many times I'd spend literally an hour trying helping a buyer tie a dozen pieces of pipe on top a small SUV or in the 6 foot bed of a pickup all to make $40! I started to wonder if I make anything considering the time spent. Also as for liability I feel getting involved in any way is tacit approval of their hauling methods and might subject me to liability. And it was the ones that sounded the most sane on the phone that were the least prepared--go figure.

I'd think a smart place would have a section of yard they placed items in that would sell for considerably more as they are than as scrap and put a firm price tag right on them.