Are you still getting paid for your chips?

Dave K · Nov 9, 2008

I've got a couple 55 gallon drums full of aluminum chips. When I called my scrap dealer to come pick them up, he said it's not worth it right now. The price has gone way down for scrap. He brought me a few more barrels to fill up and explained that he can only get about 10 cents per pound for aluminum. Those two barrels would have only brought about 10 bucks. Not even worth the work of loading it on the truck, and burning gas to take it there.

Are you guys experiencing the same?

metalcrafter · Nov 9, 2008

The same here. Everything dropped. Aluminum,copper,brass. Just hold on to it if you have the room to store it.

moonlight machine · Nov 9, 2008

I got .40 about 1 mo. ago. for chips .60 for alu. drops .60 for alu. cans

K Wallace · Nov 10, 2008

I just had my aluminium supplier come in and offer US$0.66 per kg for our chips.

We're on a pretty good deal though (we're an aluminium foundry so are a big user of their secondary ingot)

metalbizonline · Nov 10, 2008

It's nothing more than market panic. Big corporate recyclers capitalize on fear to buy metal at basement prices. I encourage my customers not to participate in this, but to store material and shop it around until you can lock in a good number.

Also, this issue is much bigger than the scrap dealer driving around in a truck. They too are at the mercy of the big processors.

Word on the streets is China, S. Korea, and many of the places we export scrap are refusing to pay for material at port and have American companies in a bind. People are flying over to 'visit' Mr. Woo with a surprise pay up meeting.

Nobody wants to stick their neck out and pay fair market value for the material. Trust me, after awhile you will see this type of greed is predictable, and time is your best weapon-- wait it out.

StreetSpeed · Nov 10, 2008

This may be as good a time as any to ask this question:

Who are the guys (usually of Hispanic origin) who drive around in a $60,000 Ford F650, with a trailer, out of state plates, and tear through your shop looking to pay 3 times as much money for your scrap as the local scrap guy? They're a pain in the ass so we usually send them away, but the last time they were here (a while ago) I think they were offering $6+ lb for our EDM wire when the scrap dude offered $2ish. The money (cash) they gave us was not counterfeit. Our only thought was that they were laundering money, but I can't see regional drug King Pins cleaning their money in out-of-state scrap yards. Anyway, that was my guess. Anyone know what those guys are REALLY doing?

gbent · Nov 10, 2008

Street, they need that new pickup cause they put alot of miles on it. They sound like the guys that buy my electrican's scrap copper.

Limy Sami · Nov 10, 2008

Non ferrous is on the floor at the place I use, so I'm holding on to it.

Steel turnings and light scrap are free tip if I deliver.

tdmidget · Nov 10, 2008

Street I think you'll find these guys usually have 2 first names, like Tom George for instance. They're gypsies and will steal more than they buy. Stay away from them.

David Carlisi · Nov 10, 2008

tdmidget said:
Street I think you'll find these guys usually have 2 first names, like Tom George for instance. They're gypsies and will steal more than they buy. Stay away from them.

We have those types of guys here as well. They parked next to me at the scrap yard one day, had a pickup full of copper tubing. (Suspicious.) Then, 2 weeks later, they show up at my shop, the same 2 guys, told me that they were from out of state and collecting scrap to sell for their charity. I think that they were actually staking out the place to see what was worth stealing. I told them that I recognized them, they had parked next to me. They acted like I was crazy, but left in a big hurry and have not been back here since.

fanelli18 · Nov 10, 2008

Scrap is on the floor right now. If you can store it do so, And most scrapyards are looking to make a steal on your metal.

Those "I'll give you 6bucks a lb. for your scrap only worth 2 bucks a lb." are gypsies. Theyre giving you that money cuz they stole 20 bucks worth for every 6 they are giving you. If they aren't stealing from you yet. Theyre making up the difference elsehwere till you get comfortable with them being around. When your not looking or not paying attention. The truck is getting filled with all those extras.

fanelli18 · Nov 10, 2008

I used to work as a mechanic at a coal breaker. We had a radiator stolen out of a loader, Solid copper worth well over a few grand. Well when that happens all the scrap yards go on alert. It showed up in New Jersey, Ironically the two guys who cashed it in had like you said two first names.

The price of scrap had gotten alot of people nutty. Most yards now unless your a regular, or a shop owner who can justify where the material came from. Or cashing in Aluminum cans, They want Photo ID

I worked in a fab shop and we had a guy who used to steal aluminum slugs all the time, Stuffing them in his lunchbox No one would nark on him but I was waiting for the handle to break off of the thing he would fill it that bad. Well needless to say when he cashed in The scrapyard called the shop, And someone had some explaining to do.

toolmaker96 · Nov 10, 2008

6 months ago we were getting $.52 lb for aluminum chip. Last week we were quoted $.12 lb.
Like others, I will be holding my chips until prices recover some.

SND · Nov 11, 2008

So what I'd like to know is. With the current low prices, how long ago were they paying this exact same price and people thought " Awesome I got $.10/lb for my scrap " 3, 5, 10 yrs?

I don't make enough chips to care about a few cents on scrap, I just hope the price of the raw material goes down accordingly at some point. If they were to cut on the import of junk metal from certain other countries and used our own foundries/mills a bit more to produce the metal we use, maybe it would help use up some of all that piled up scrap eh?

toolmaker96 · Nov 11, 2008

There were times in the mid. 80's that aluminum chip was going for around $.15 lb.
As material suppliers burn through there inventory over the coming months, you will see material prices continue to drop.

rbrock · Dec 6, 2008

StreetSpeed said:
This may be as good a time as any to ask this question:

Who are the guys (usually of Hispanic origin) who drive around in a $60,000 Ford F650, with a trailer, out of state plates, and tear through your shop looking to pay 3 times as much money for your scrap as the local scrap guy? They're a pain in the ass so we usually send them away, but the last time they were here (a while ago) I think they were offering $6+ lb for our EDM wire when the scrap dude offered $2ish. The money (cash) they gave us was not counterfeit. Our only thought was that they were laundering money, but I can't see regional drug King Pins cleaning their money in out-of-state scrap yards. Anyway, that was my guess. Anyone know what those guys are REALLY doing?

We had those two guys around here also, they gave us cards that had a Chicago address and Phone number, They wanted receipt for what they bought ($160 of SS Scrap), I suspect they stole a whole lot more that night somewhere and used the receipt as cover if they got any questions about its origins.

bobborck · Dec 11, 2008

Current Chip Prices

Anyone have a site to check for current scrap pricing?

Limy Sami · Dec 13, 2008

Any help to you?

http://www.scrapindex.com/index.html

Ox · Dec 13, 2008

I see that you can BUY the "history" reports there. That would be very helpfull in knowing relativity, but ....

Point is - I see that heavy melt is at $200/ton (gross I am sure?) which sounds awfully high for current markets - so that must be what the yards are fetchin' on the other side. If we could look at this chart and know what May was - that would put things into perspective as to whether it was werth calling the yard.

Still - lots better than nothing...

-------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Guest · Dec 13, 2008

Just got 35 cents for aluminum solids, and that was after shopping around, some local places were as low as 22 cents. That is down from getting 80 cents for the same stuff 6 months ago.
New policy, I was thumb printed, gave copy of driver's license and photographed standing next
to my huge haul of 200 pounds. Also have to wait 3 days till getting paid, a little annoying but
the yard was not busy when I went, and anything to stop the scrap thieves.

Are you still getting paid for your chips?

Diamond

Plastic

Diamond

Aluminum

Cast Iron

Hot Rolled

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Stainless

Aluminum

Aluminum

Hot Rolled

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Plastic

Plastic

Diamond

Diamond

Guest

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