Memorial Day is always a good reminder for everyone to remember what our country is built on: service from the many people who have given their lives fighting for our freedoms.
On the scrap front – below is a link to an article about the current steel market. The gap between raw/finished materials and scrap pricing has continued to grow… the delta between pricing on all metals has not been this wide in many, many years. The mills are controlling the market more than ever. Knowing that only so many mills can take the tonnage we need to move each month they can pressure the market downward at their discretion.
Unfortunately, this is also applying to the aluminum, copper and stainless markets. There are too many tons to move and not enough mills both domestically and overseas. We are seeing the pricing at mills work almost like the current gas/oil markets where they are setting a price and all staying within the same range of each other to keep it in line with each other.
Formulas on pricing that have been used for decades are no longer valid. The mills know they have the power to control this and are exercising it at their will.
Overall the pricing on metals is still higher today than it was a year ago.
We continue to see demand from the mills for high grade/clean alloy materials. The rising cost of business (fuel, insurance, overhead costs, etc.) make it more difficult on everyone… especially here in California.
I hope you find this article and information helpful and interesting.
As always if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.