Help with scrap metal and other metals please?
I work at an auto repair & towing facility. We replace a lot of radiators and engines and transmissions and pretty much everything else. We end up with a lot of junk cars and usually about once a year we tow them to the recyclers. Normally they go for about $7 per hundred pounds. Recently though they went up to $12 per hundred. That's a huge difference when you're dealing with 50 or so cars (roughly 200,000 pounds). The basis of my question is why do the prices fluctuate so much, and is there a good method of knowing when the prices will be the highest so I can tell when the best time to bring the cars would be. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
The scrap prices reflect supply and demand. There will be (already its down a bit) a steep fall in the prices as demand for scrap in China , India etc have gone down. When the construction Industry booms the steel price will increase and so is the scrap. The scrap car parts which sold at $550/ton a couple of months ago is selling at $425 /Ton now. So watch out for steel prices and scrap prices regularly before you sell the cars. Its a good idea to watch Steel Futures at NyMex (New York Metal Exchange). You can keep a close watch of prices and Industry news at http://www.recycleinme.com
