Monday, April 27, 2015

Metal Commodities and Recycling Report, Wilson Metal Recycling, 404 Maury St S, Wilson, NC, 27893, 252-243-3586

Wilson Metal Recycling Metal Commodities and Recycling ReportApril 27th, 2015404 Maury St SWilson, 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 27th, 2015.  My name is Greg Brown, President and CEO of the companies.

Last week while there was some very bad news, we saw some stabilization in the commodities markets which is a clear positive.

As expected, Steel Dynamics released their earnings last week and said that OmniSource, the country’s second largest recycler, lost money in the first quarter.  Related, Nucor Steel released that their recycling division’s profit declined.  Nucor also released that their DRI plant in Louisiana, that makes a scrap steel substitute, was back on line in recent weeks.  This plant back on line is just another factor in keeping scrap steel prices low. 

commodities recycling report
AMM - Scrap Metal Prices Graph


There has been stabilization of the euro vs. the dollar, but with the euro at about $1.08 to the dollar, this is still a major incentive to have scrap metal and finished goods steel, flow into the U.S. from Europe.

The low euro along with dynamics such as the continuing decline in the oil rig count, continue to put pressure on steel production and prices.
Last week the oil rig count fell for the 20th week in a row.  At the current 704 rigs, it is 56% below last October’s high of 1,609.
 
 
commodities recycling report
Baker Hughes - US Oil Rig Count Graph




Oil, though, is now up about 18% from the lows of a few months ago, so this rapid oil rig decline should be slowing soon.
 On the positive side, with auto production strong and with construction in the U.S. getting a bit better, steel production is off its lows. 
 
commodities recycling report
AMM - Steel Production Graph


Copper had some highs and lows last week, but remains in a range for the past 6 weeks and is about $2.76 per pound this morning.
 

commodities recycling report
CME Group - Copper Prices Graph


Aluminum traded in a similar way last week and is about where it was two months ago.


commodities recycling report
Kitco - Aluminum Prices Graph

There were some mixed signals in the economy last week with the government releasing that orders for durable goods were up a nice 4%, but it was mostly due to orders for commercial aircraft.  Behind these numbers was that last month was the 7th month in a row of declines in business investment.  Michael Montgomery of IHS Global Insight said, "The report was yet another false positive that looks good in the headline but is eroding away underneath.

New home sales were released last week and fell more than 11 percent, to 481,000, which was off its recent 7 year high.  Importantly, new home sales are still running less than half its high of over 1 million units in 2006.  Tight lending by banks and enormous student debt are major drags on this market.

Wall Street while somewhat being fueled by leverage of people buying on margin, continues to do very well.  As noted above, while fuel prices are rising, they are still below last year, so we hope the wealth effect of Wall Street, combined with lower fuel prices, will get the economy through some of its soft spots.

It was great to see so many friends, customers and suppliers at the ISRI meeting last week.
There were no changes to our copper prices in North Carolina last week, 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 Commodities and Recycling Report.