Scrap Metal Prices Plunge; Recyclers Under Strain

Tools

Story Published: Nov 17, 2008 at 5:39 PM PST

By Steve Wellman

Scrap. Only months ago the price was riding high. Recyclers couldn't get enough. What a difference now.

Scott Peterson, a metals recycler, says, “We've never seen that kind of drop ever.”

Peterson has been in the scrap business for over two decades. He says the prices for scrap metal haven't just fallen…they've collapsed.

"We couldn't even move stuff out of here fast enough that we weren't losing money on it."

Stainless steel, once 90 cents a pound, now a dime. Aluminum from fifty cents down to a quarter. And copper: imploding from 2.25 to just 70 cents a pound for scrap. So what happened?

Peterson explains, "The credit markets went down and there's no money for big companies to buy from the smaller companies like we sell to."

So on the local level nobody's buying and almost nobody selling. It means scrap dealers may soon have to look at scaling back, cutting hours...or even jobs. But there's one bright side to the situation. Illegal scrap thefts are way off.

Steve Wellman says, “One item that's vulnerable at construction site like this...copper tubing. But since copper prices have fallen so far, nobody's stealing it anymore.”

"Yeah I've heard of that before. Haven't seen that on this project though," says Darin Lorton, a construction supervisor.

Scrap metal dealers say prices likely won't turn around..until the global financial crisis eases...and the demand for raw materials heads up again. It's anybody's guess when that will be.

Current Weather

Current Temp 38.0 °F

Mostly Cloudy

Watch the story

More Weather

Current Weather

More Weather

Upload directly from your mobile device.

Learn how

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.