Wilson Metal RecyclingMetal Commodities and Recycling Report
March 25th, 2015
404 Maury St S
Wilson, NC, 27893
252-243-3586
This is the Commodities and
Recycling Report, brought to you by BENLEE the industry leader in roll off trailers
and open top scrap trailers, as well as Raleigh and Goldsboro Metal Recycling,
the leaders in North Carolina for scrap metal, cardboard, electronics and junk
cars.
Today is Monday, April 6th,
2015. My name is Greg Brown, President and CEO of the companies.
It was a very quiet week
in the markets.
Last week as April
began, there were few if any trades in steel.
Steel production remains
near its multiyear low, which is a reason that scrap metal demand remains weak.
 |
| AMM - Steel Production Graph |
With demand low, prices remain steady at their multi-year lows.
 |
| AMM - Scrap Metal Prices Graph |
With the strong dollar,
scrap prices also remain low due to scrap metal imports continue to hit the
East Coast. Related, a few weeks ago Nucor Steel announced that
their DRI plant in Louisiana which has been off line since November was due
back on line by last week. It is not clear if this happened. As many
know, DRI competes with scrap steel, therefore this will be yet another reason
for depressed scrap steel prices.
The number of oil
drilling rigs in the U.S., after hitting a hit of 1,609 in October 2104, fell
to 802 last week, which is a 50% plunge from the high, which is also keeping
steel prices down.
 |
| Baker Hughes - US Oil Rig Count |
On the positive side,
March car sales which were released last week were up about 1% from a year ago,
but at a very high annualized level of 17.1 Million units.
The price of scrap steel
for April will be established this week. With the mixed dynamics we
just mentioned, there may be no change in prices on average, with some grades
possibly slightly higher and other grades slightly lower.
Copper had a tough
week. It started the week at about $2.80 per pound and steadily declined
all week, finishing about $2.74 per pound.
 |
| CME Group - Copper Prices Graph |
Aluminum had just about the same trend and declined all week, with Kitco
spot aluminum finishing the week just above 78 cents.
 |
| Kitco - Aluminum Prices Graph |
Sadly, nickel prices
declined this week, taking stainless steel prices down to lows not seen in
years.
The increase in the U.S.
dollar vs. the euro remains a key reason for the flood of scrap metal and
finished goods coming to the U.S. The dollar’s strength stabilized
last week and reversed a bit, but the flood of imported goods continues.
 |
| Bureau of Labor Statistics - Job Market Graph |
While bad weather was
one of the causes, others believe a new softening economy is a reason. A
growth in high wage jobs remains a major factor in the slow growth
economy. Some believe this slow growth, means the fed could further delay
the increase in interest rates which is due to happen in the coming
months. Of course slow growth keeps scrap metal prices low.
Our congratulations to
Jay Sherwood, formally of Schupan and Sons, for his being recognized this month
by the Portage Rotary, for all his great work in the community.
Last week we raised
copper prices in North Carolina, with our Raleigh prices of #1 copper being
purchased for $2.36 per pound. Prepared Steel is still being
purchased for $6.25 per hundred pounds.
With that we hope all
have a Safe and Profitable week. Tune in next week for the
Commodity and Recycling Report.
