Eastern Railroad Discussion > scrap metal prices

This is railroad related because scrap metal prices have climbed substantially.  Therefore scrappers are on railroad properties making offers for all kinds of steel scrap.  Cars, rail, etc.  $18 per pound?  

What is causing this rise in scrap steel prices?  Naturally I can think of plenty of old car scrap lots that could be melted and improve some neighborhoods.  

You quoted a "per pound" price of $18.

A quick look showed that it is actually about $135 per ton. 

There's a lot of activity in the mini-mill sector, that draws a lot of scrap. It's possible the Chinese are buying, too.  They are definitely buying copper.

Maybe ScrapHauler can tell us what is going on. A few years ago I thought it was China, but he said it had to do something with the need of metal for a pipeline in Turkey?

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/21 20:36 by wabash2800.

I am indirectly in the steel industry, and yes, China has been buying scrap steel since the election. The belief is that they are expecting the new administration to drop the import tarriffs on steel coming into the US, placing pressure on domestically produced steel to drop. With the surge in scrap purchases, domestic mills have raised pricing ~$135.00/ton, which has caused a surge in purchases and some spot allocations. The current domestic steel pricing increase is expected to only hold for the first 6 months of 2021, after that point prices are expected to drop as the industry expects to see a surge in import steel from China, due to the expected reductions in tarriffs.

I am currently bidding projects that my suppliers are only providing 5 and 10 day purchase terms on, where owners are requiring 60-90 days quote holds. It's unsteady ground at this time, but not as bad as ~15 years ago.

Russ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/21 09:06 by NSTopHat.

$18 per pound would mean that my 10 year old Jeep, which weighs about 4000 pounds is worth close to $72000.

Jim

Jimmies Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> $18 per pound would mean that my 10 year old Jeep,
> which weighs about 4000 pounds is worth close to
> $72000.
>
> Jim

LOL, you can sell it and buy a Tesla.  My friend has one, we were hard pressed to put both our tennis gears in the trunk.  Sure can jerk you neck back.  You can pull it out of the parking spot, nice trick but waste of time.

Bob

Math is hard! Try $0.15 to $0.18 per pound for unprepared delivered to yard. Call it $370-380ish per GROSS ton. Russ is right, Jan market us up $120-140 per ton. Lots of reasons.

As a side note, please direct me to whomever is paying $18 per pound. Have I got a deal for them!

Posted from iPhone

NSTopHat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am indirectly in the steel industry, and yes,
> China has been buying scrap steel since the
> election. The belief is that they are expecting
> the new administration to drop the import tarriffs
> on steel coming into the US, placing pressure on
> domestically produced steel to drop. With the
> surge in scrap purchases, domestic mills have
> raised pricing ~$135.00/ton, which has caused a
> surge in purchases and some spot allocations. The
> current domestic steel pricing increase is
> expected to only hold for the first 6 months of
> 2021, after that point prices are expected to drop
> as the industry expects to see a surge in import
> steel from China, due to the expected reductions
> in tarriffs.
>
> I am currently bidding projects that my suppliers
> are only providing 5 and 10 day purchase terms on,
> where owners are requiring 60-90 days quote holds.
> It's unsteady ground at this time, but not as bad
> as ~15 years ago.
>
> Russ

And another $50/ton increase was announced today, so make it +$185/ton since the election.

Russ