Scrap Market Update
Cash 4 Cars Akron is among the many of those people that buy junk cars. A salvage car buyer is responsible for processing end-of-life vehicles through recycling. The amount of money for a scrap car that sellers receive hinges upon several variables. Car buyers will typically break out reusable components for resale either “as-is” or after being remanufactured or refurbished. Once the vehicle is reduced to its shell, the majority of which is composed of steel, then the people that buy junk cars will take them to a scrap processor. The core problem for car buyers is that the per-ton price for scrap steel has fallen by over 50%. This post cites examples of two such processors in the US, that are dealing with this issue.
A December 15, 2015 story on chicagobusiness.com by Micah Maidenberg titled ‘Hundreds of jobs at risk as Chicago scrap metal recycler closes’ tells us the following: “Amid a meltdown in prices, one of the biggest scrap recyclers has abruptly ceased operating. Chicago-based Pure Metal Recycling shut down (3) sites in the Bridgeport neighborhood, as well as in Blue Island, Elgin and Joliet. Pure also closed down a facility in South Bend, IN; the notice says the firm was unable to secure funding from any lender for the sale of its assets and closed Dec. 4, meaning hundreds of layoffs.
Pure employed about 400 people and had $465M in sales last year, according to a Crain’s 2014 list. The firm was the second-largest private scrap processor in the region. The scrap recycling industry struggles through one of the worst downturns in years; scrap recyclers collect metals & prep them to sell to steel mills & foundries, which use the materials for new products. Falling prices squeeze profit margins for recyclers; the midpoint price for one type of scrap metal in the U.S. was $169 per long ton earlier this month, down 50 percent over a year, per Bloomberg.
Michelle Applebaum, a veteran steel industry analyst says prices are falling due to overcapacity of iron ore, which can be turned into new products & is the main substitute for scrap. Steel imports are surging in the U.S., making it difficult for steel mills to justify making new steel.” The article can be read in its entirety at this link.
Hearing of closures and layoffs is never a good thing. As a salvage car buyer, we feel the impact, as the amount of money for a scrap car recently has dipped near $100 each. People that buy junk cars in the salvage car buyer market realize that the vehicle sellers have difficulty accepting this harsh reality. Just over one year ago, car buyers were paying upwards of $300 for larger vehicles—but those days have passed.
This week an article posted on the advocate.com by Ted Griggs with the headline ‘Nucor to shut St. James mill until prices improve’ reported similar problems to the aforementioned story as follows: “A Nucor Corp. decision to temporarily halt production at its St. James steel mill because of market conditions clouds the future of Convent as the site of a much larger proposed $3.4 billion steel complex. Nucor said that its plant is shut down for maintenance and will suspend the St. James facility until market conditions improve. About 170 people work at the plant and St. James Parish President Timmy Roussel said plant manager Les Hart told him none of the employees at the plant would be laid off. A 2009 story by Bloomberg.com said Nucor hadn’t laid off anyone since 1966, instead going to shorter work weeks. Roussel says he hopes the plant could restart production in January, if market conditions improve. Spokeswoman Katherine Miller says that when the market improves, Nucor has the ability to quickly ramp up. Nucor invested $750M in the mill, a direct reduced iron plant that uses natural gas to make high-purity steel pellets from iron ore. Nucor mixes the pellets with scrap metal to make steel.”
We are a salvage car buyer
Did you know that a salvage car buyer will provide you money for a scrap car? Cash 4 Cars Akron will give you a quote for an old car in the areas of Norton, Monroe Falls and Tallmadge. Even if the vehicle is a wrecked or totaled car, those in Cuyahoga Falls, Springfield Township, or Mogadore can sell it. Residents of Copley, the Rolling Acres area and New Franklin are encouraged to call our junk vehicle buyer for a quote for an old car or totaled car. We have recently broadened our junk vehicle hauling service area to include Medina, Wadsworth and Ravenna. Complimentary junk vehicle removal is included in our “junk car quote” price, regardless of whether the automobile is located in Fairlawn, the Chapel Hill area, or Kent. If you determine that an old car is no worth fixing and we can pick it up from such places as Firestone Service Centers, Conrad’s locations, transmission shops, or Goodyear stores.
