SEMI OT - scrap prices ticker?

WILLEO6709 · Aug 29, 2014

I don't know about most of you but I have more accumulated steel scrap than I care to admit to..... and for the stock market types they have these ticker things you can get for your screens showing market prices etc.... what do you guys do to keep up with the scrap market? Ideally the local guys would have a smartphoe app but there is noone big enough around me to have such conveniences... short of spending a couple hours on the phone calling all over creation what do y'all do to get the best price?

kustomizingkid · Aug 29, 2014

Unless you are hauling serious tons it usually isn't worth it to haul farther than the closest yard. At least thats how the math always worked out for me.

Admin5 · Aug 29, 2014

FWIW, when I moved out of my old shop a few months ago the nearest scrap yard brought a 50 foot dock height trailer (open with heavy steel sides about 5 feet tall) to me and just left it until I was finished. Luckily I had two dock plates and kept one on the scrap trailer so I could simply drive the forklift onto the trailer and fill it up properly from front to back. After a couple weeks I was finished, they came got it, next day gave me a check. They did sneak in something for the trailer, which they implied before wouldn't cost anything..but it wasn't much..maybe $55. Can't remember what they paid per pound, but it seemed fair..esp considering the hodge podge of stuff...about the middle of price ranges back then.

The point is, that was the ultimate easy situation from my standpoint.. no pressure, no fuss, no muss....I can't fathom hauling hundreds of pieces of heavy crap myself somewhere....so maybe you could do the same.
Milacron

Mud · Aug 30, 2014

A local friend who does building demolition amasses large quantities of steel. I asked who he sells to and his answer is that he calls a steel broker, who takes bids for it and arranges for someone to come haul it. How you would find a broker, or who they are, I have no idea.

I have seen things like this on the interweb, don't know how relevant they are - Scrap Metal prices in USA, Midwest, East Coast, West Coast, South West | SCRAP REGISTER

All my local scrap yards post their prices online. And the closest one gives me a better price than what they post because I present it well.

adama · Aug 30, 2014

Scrap steel is IMHO only worth messing with if you have serious qty's (1/2 truck loads minimum). Getting a extra $20 is hardly worth the extra time and dragging it another 20 miles. That time can be way more productively spent doing something that brings in work or increases capabilities. Other wise to me, the least time and effort the better.

snowman · Aug 30, 2014

Knowing what the "market" rate is doesn't do you a damn bit of good unless you are selling a container full....and even then, it's probably not going to be enough.

Otherwise, you just call around.

Round here, a dropoff at best is going to yield you $300 a ton for #1 (think punching blanks of non-coated steel). That's assuming you can get more than 17000 lbs in the container...which is the cutoff for where they don't charge for delivery/pickup of their container.

If you are just taking it to the yard in a pickup, you just call around.

Milacron · Aug 31, 2014

snowman said:
If you are just taking it to the yard in a pickup, you just call around.

If you are taking it to the yard in a pickup.. unless you are unemployed and destitute, no matter what you get it won't be enough to cover your time to put the stuff in the pickup, drive there and off load it, and come back..and the fuel...so what difference does it make really ? "calling around" you waste even more time...

OTOH, if it was a bundle of surplus stainless or aluminum...maybe... but any "hodge podge" of steel and iron that would fit in the 5 x 8 bed of a pickup truck is not going to bring diddly squat for money at any scrap yard.

snowman · Aug 31, 2014

I don't disagree....the only time I take steel in is if I've got a whole pickup load, then it generally works out to about $100-$150, which is worth my time.

Last night I cleaned a bunch....I just drag it to the corner of the driveway and my father in law takes it on one of his many trips. He may be employed, but I think he still fits the description of destitute....or maybe just ill prepared retiree...not sure.

My main point was unless you are producing a large amount of scrap, might as well just accept that you aren't a player. Knowing that #1 bailing is trading at $320 GT doesn't do you a damn bit of good when the local yards are only paying $180.

I just bought a load of scrap I beam from my fab shop yesterday...he's a perfect example. The rate he quoted for me to buy scrap (the same he gets from the scrap company) was the rate he was getting 10 years ago...which means he doesn't regard his scrap hopper as anything more than a dumpster that sends him a check once in a while.

powerglider · Aug 31, 2014

plus the crazy good chance you will end up with a flat or damaged tire on said pickup truck when unloading in usually junk yard squalor.

Milacron said:
If you are taking it to the yard in a pickup.. unless you are unemployed and destitute, no matter what you get it won't be enough to cover your time to put the stuff in the pickup, drive there and off load it, and come back..and the fuel...so what difference does it make really ? "calling around" you waste even more time...

OTOH, if it was a bundle of surplus stainless or aluminum...maybe... but any "hodge podge" of steel and iron that would fit in the 5 x 8 bed of a pickup truck is not going to bring diddly squat for money at any scrap yard.

Mcgyver · Aug 31, 2014

I'm getting $0.14 a pound and a full skip (1/2 height so they are easier to fill) pays 2-3 thousand. its mostly skeletons - whats left of plate/sheet after burning out parts. I know that's not what the OP's talking about...but the Q was on prices.....and some seemed to imply it almost wasn't worth it period.

traditional-tools · Aug 31, 2014

Mcgyver said:
I'm getting $0.14 a pound and a full skip (1/2 height so they are easier to fill) pays 2-3 thousand. its mostly skeletons - whats left of plate/sheet after burning out parts. I know that's not what the OP's talking about...but the Q was on prices.....and some seemed to imply it almost wasn't worth it period.

Wow, so you're getting close to 18,000 lbs. in your pickup ?

That's some pickup...my flat bed only has 8,000 lb. payload...

kpotter · Aug 31, 2014

When I was working for a machinerey dealer I bought out a whole warehouse of old crappy cylindrical grinders they were off of a production line and were wasted. I bought them all for 2 grand. I couldnt haul it all to the scrap yard it was way too much to deal with. I called a local yard and they refered me to a wholesale scrap guy who cam out and payed me 6 grand for all of it and he spent a week hauling it out with semi trucks.

Mcgyver · Aug 31, 2014

traditional-tools said:
Wow, so you're getting close to 18,000 lbs. in your pickup ?

That's some pickup...my flat bed only has 8,000 lb. payload...

why are you talking about a pickup? OP asked about what scrap prices are

traditional-tools · Aug 31, 2014

Mcgyver said:
why are you talking about a pickup? OP asked about what scrap prices are

So how much does it cost you to haul 18,000 lbs. to the scrapper ? If you can do that in a day, you've made some money...but it all sounds like wishful thinking to make money on it...my $0.02...

WILLEO6709 · Aug 31, 2014

fwiw, some of what I have is surplus steel coil thats been sitting around and rusty... about 10,000 lbs, a few big plates laying outside taken off customer jobs and never found uses for in 10 years, some general scrap... some stamping slugs in 420 stainless, some stamping slugs in 1008/1010, and chips...... so some of it I may get decent money for but some it I won't get jack and I know it...... whether its worth it to haul depends on the price, hence the question.... how do you all keep track of the price?

Mcgyver · Aug 31, 2014

traditional-tools said:
So how much does it cost you to haul 18,000 lbs. to the scrapper ? If you can do that in a day, you've made some money...but it all sounds like wishful thinking to make money on it...my $0.02...

I could haul it in 15 minutes on my big truck, not that it matters. for all you or I know he's got enough to have skips dropped off which is what I said we do. he asked about rates and gave him what we get.

traditional-tools · Aug 31, 2014

Mcgyver said:
I could haul it in 15 minutes on my big truck, not that it matters. for all you or I know he's got enough to have skips dropped off which is what I said we do. he asked about rates and gave him what we get.

No, actually if you want to split hairs he didn't. He asked how you keep track of it, not how much you get for it. But by your report he can get $.14/lb if he drives it up to Ontario.

Cheers,
Alan

Mcgyver · Aug 31, 2014

true he did ask how to keep track of the price, but not being aware of a ticker, I thought offering comparable appropriate. not sure why you'd care though or start talking about pickups. Anyway, the stuff all ends up in china so after the exchange prices should be somewhat comparable....else there's an arbitrage in scrap opportunity (not especially likely is my guess)

Admin5 · Aug 31, 2014

Mcgyver said:
I could haul it in 15 minutes on my big truck, not that it matters. for all you or I know he's got enough to have skips dropped off which is what I said we do. he asked about rates and gave him what we get.

After the scrap magically appeared in the bed of the truck ? It might take me 15 minutes just to walk from one end of the shop to the truck and start it up !

Milacron

Mcgyver · Aug 31, 2014

Admin5 said:
After the scrap magically appeared in the bed of the truck ? It might take me 15 minutes just to walk from one end of the shop to the truck and start it up !

Milacron

how big's the plant? 15 minutes to walk it and start the truck?

The scrappers is 5 minutes away, I could lift the skip on the flabed in not much time, less than 10. its already in a skip. but wft what does an imaginary scrap run by me have anything to do with anything? Besides, for those on the edge of their seats over my scrap logistics i repeat myself, they pick it up

:rolleyes5:

hey Willie - we get 14 cents a pound here

SEMI OT - scrap prices ticker?

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