Metal Commodities and Recycling Report, Raleigh Scrap Metal Recycling, 2310 Garner Rd, Raleigh, NC, 27610, 919-828-5426

RALEIGH METAL RECYCLING 

METAL COMMODITIES AND RECYCLING REPORT

June 8, 2015

2310 GARNER ROAD

RALEIGH, NC, 27610

 

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, June 8, 2015.  My name is Greg Brown, President and CEO of the companies.

 

Overall the economy continues its slow growth around the world.  Last week the U.S. had a very strong jobs report and car sales in the U.S. had their best month since July 2005, almost 10 years ago.  Related with the slow growth in the U.S., the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, took down their forecast of U.S. growth and urged the U.S. not to raise interest rates in 2015.

 

 

Steel Production

While ferrous production came down a bit last week, it has been trending up for months and is now nicely up from its April multi year low.  Related a group of U.S. steel mills filed anti-dumping charges against foreign steel mills, due to the flood of imported steel.  As the U.S. economy continues to gain strength and with imports of scrap metal flat, the low prices of scrap metal causing low incoming rates to scrap yards caught up with the market. 

 

As was forecast about a week ago, the increase in ferrous pricing became a reality, with prices up $20 to $30 a Gross ton, the first real increase in months.  While this increase is significant, the question is, will it be enough to help reverse the enormous drop in material coming into scrap yards. 

 



Oil Rig Count
 

Steel consumption in the U.S. is not getting a lot of help from oil drilling, which until last year consumed enormous amount of metal.  Last week was the 26^th consecutive weekly decline in the oil rig count in the U.S.  The good news is with oil now up almost 50% from the multi-year low of a few months ago, the oil rig count is close to stabilizing, but Business Insiders’ graph is nothing other than ugly.

 

Aluminum Prices

While scrap steel has had its first increase in months, Aluminum has been a totally different story.  Prices are at more than a 5 year low. 

Aluminum Stock levels

 

Imports and last year’s high inventory levels caused some of this decline.  Aluminum inventory levels having hit multi year highs about a year ago are now at 5+ year lows.  Based on these new inventory lows and the U.S. Dollar having weakened a bit in recent weeks, we would expect Aluminum prices to stabilize in the coming weeks.

 



Copper Prices

 Copper after having hit a multi month high about a month ago has been declining for weeks, having dropped about 25 cents in the past three weeks.  Of course with China continuing to slow, and 50% of the world’s copper consumed there, we see no major increase in copper prices coming any time soon.

 

We were in Las Vegas for the annual Waste Expo show last week.  Almost all the news there was positive for equipment suppliers.  The major drag on the waste industry is that recycling for the companies like Waste Management is not profitable and they are not investing in the recycling part of their business.  Waste is OK, but recycling is a problem due low commodity prices.  These continued low profits caused one the major metal recycling companies in the Midwest, PSC to announce new site closings.  In the past 30 days many scrap metal companies have closing sites and shutting down shredders.

 

Prices for Aluminum and copper have come down this week in Raleigh and Goldsboro.

Steel and Junk cars we up.  Please call us at 919-828-5426 in Raleigh and 919-731-5600 in Goldsboro for prices. 

 

With that we hope all have a Safe and Profitable week.   Tune in next week for the Commodity and Recycling report.

Metal Commodities and Recycling Report, Raleigh Scrap Metal Recycling, 2310 Garner Rd, Raleigh, NC, 27610, 919-828-5426

 

RALEIGH METAL RECYCLING 

METAL COMMODITIES AND RECYCLING REPORT

MAY 26TH, 2015 

2310 GARNER ROAD

RALEIGH, NC, 27610

 

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 Tuesday, May 26th, 2015.  My name is Greg Brown, President and CEO of the companies.

 

The overall economy, continues its slow growth around the world, which while too slow for some, the growth is there.  Wall Street continued to hit new highs this week and even the Chinese Stock market is up over 90% this year.

 

Steel Production - Raleigh Metal Recycling

 

 

While ferrous production remains low it picked up a bit last week and is near a multi-month high.  While still low, it is better than it has been.

 

Steel Prices - 2310 Garner Road, Raleigh, NC, 27610

 

 

Ferrous prices remained steady this week in the U.S., but price pressure has been building for overseas shipments.  Many believe there will be a $20 or more per GT price increase in June, but as we have seen before this could change.  A key is that even as warm weather has swept across the country; flows of obsolete material into scrap yards remains very weak. 

 

US Oil Rig Count - (919) 828-5624

 

The oil rig count remains a major drag on steel consumption, but after falling for months, week after week, the rig count only fell by one last week.  Low oil prices have caused this dramatic drop, but as we have all seen, with oil prices having risen in recent months, the number of rigs in the U.S. is stabilizing.

 

Copper Prices - Raleigh Metal Copper Prices

 

Copper had a very bad week.  It started the week at about 2.93 per pound on COMEX and as we go to press, we are at $2.81 per pound, down about 12 cents for the week.

 

Aluminum Prices - Raleigh Scrap Metal Prices

 

Aluminum has continued its dramatic fall in recent weeks.  It remains not clear as to what is happening, but the only thing we know is that prices continue to fall.  Chinese imports and warehouses full of material remain reasons for the drop.

 

Another major publically traded scrap company released poor earnings this week.  With ferrous prices stabilizing and coming back a bit, that has been very positive, but Copper and Aluminum have been down, which is a major negative going forward.

 

Housing Starts - North Carolina Scrap Metal Recycling

 

On a very positive note, housing starts hit a multi year high in April.  Housing creates significant jobs and boosts many aspects of the economy, so it is a very positive sign.

 

Prices for Aluminum have come down in Raleigh and Goldsboro this week.

Steel and Junk cars remained steady.  Please call us at 919-828-5426 in Raleigh and 919-731-5600 in Goldsboro for prices. 

 

With that we hope all have a safe and profitable week.   Tune in next week for the Commodity and Recycling Report.

Metal Commodities and Recycling Report, Raleigh Scrap Metal Recycling, 2310 Garner Rd, Raleigh, NC, 27610, 919-828-5426

RALEIGH METAL RECYCLING 

METAL COMMODITIES AND RECYCLING REPORT

MAY 18TH, 2015 

2310 GARNER ROAD

RALEIGH, NC, 27610

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, May 18th, 2015.  My name is Greg Brown, President and CEO of the companies.

While commodity prices remain mostly steady, prices remain low across the industry. The S&P 500, the broad index on Wall Street, hit a new all-time high last week.  European stocks remain near their all-time highs as well, meaning things are pretty good, but not for commodities, due to weak manufacturing globally.  Also, the solid U.S economy causing the U.S. dollar to be strong, hurts commodity prices, which are priced in U.S. dollars.

Steel Production - Raleigh Scrap Metal Recycling

While Ferrous production remains low and dropped a bit last week, a number of steel mills and scrap yards announced closings.  The low production volumes, which are heavily caused by imports, led to AreclorMittal, announcing the closing of their steel mill in South Carolina.  This low volume brought other major announcements, such as OmniSource closing some operations in the Southeast, ISA shutting their shredder, SMS shutting operations in the Midwest and a small operation in PA announced they were closing.  This is after Schnitzer announced 10 days ago they were closing two operations in the SE. 

When we said last week we thought there would be some upcoming closings, we never thought that in one week we would see so many announcements and we have never seen this many announcements in about a week, ever.

US Oil Rig Count - Raleigh Copper Scrap Metal Prices

With oil drilling being a major consumer of steel, the only good news here is has that the dramatic drop in oil rigs, drilling in the U.S. is slowing.  They have been down for 23 weeks in a row.  While oil prices are still well below those of a year ago, they are in fact up about 40% from the low of a few months ago.  This is slowing the reduction in the oil rig count, but at 660 rigs, they are now down about 60% from the high of 1,609 rigs last October.

Steel Prices - 2310 Garner Rd, Raleigh, NC, 27610

Ferrous prices remained pretty steady after ferrous selling week two weeks ago.  With production low at U.S. Mills and volumes into scrap yards incredibly low, we see little chance that ferrous prices will be down next month.  If they rise, it will not by a lot.

Copper Prices - NC Scrap Metal Recycling

Copper after rising almost steadily for a few months, seems to have hit a stabilization point and now has spent its second week at just about $2.92 per pound.  With even more good economic news out of Europe and two weeks ago, China adding some stimulus, it is clearly helping support copper prices.

Aluminum Prices - (919) 828-5426

  

Aluminum is a very different story.  As said, Steel and Copper have been steady.  Aluminum has dropped significantly.  The reason may be partly what caused the major steel declines.  Imports.  There is word of major imports of aluminum coming in from China, so despite volumes being good; prices are down significantly in recent weeks.

On a positive note, congratulations to our friend Randy Goodman in taking a key role with Greenland America to help them in their U.S. growth.

Copper prices were up last week in our NC operations and Aluminum was down.  Steel and Junk cars remained steady.  Please call us at 919-828-5426 in Raleigh and 919-731-5600 in Goldsboro for prices. 

With that we hope all have a Safe and Profitable week.   Tune in next week for the Commodity and Recycling report.

Metal Commodities and Recycling Report, Raleigh Scrap Metal Recycling, 2310 Garner Rd, Raleigh, NC, 27610, 919-828-5426

RALEIGH METAL RECYCLING 

METAL COMMODITIES AND RECYCLING REPORT

APRIL 27TH, 2015 

2310 GARNER ROAD

RALEIGH, NC, 27610

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 27^th, 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. 

Raleigh Metal Recycling Steel Prices

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.  

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.

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.

Raleigh Metal Recycling Copper

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

Raleigh Metal Recycling, Copper

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.

Metal Commodities and Recycling Report, April 6th, Raleigh Scrap Metal Recycling, 2310 Garner Rd, Raleigh, NC, 27610, 919-828-5426

Raleigh Metal Recycling 

Metal Commodities and Recycling Report

April 6th, 2015 

2310 Garner Road

Raleigh, NC, 27610

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 6^th, 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 Graph

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.

On another subject, the March U.S. jobs report that was released last week was a very disappointing 126,000, making it the lowest since December 2013.

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.

Metal Commodities and Recycling Report, March 30th, Raleigh Scrap Metal Recycling, 2310 Garner Rd, Raleigh, NC, 27610, 919-828-5426

Raleigh Metal Recycling 

Metal Commodities and Recycling Report

March 30th, 2015 

2310 Garner Road

Raleigh, NC, 27610

This is the Monday 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, March 30^th, 2015.  My name is Greg Brown, President and CEO of the companies.

It was a quiet week in the markets, other than last Monday

Late afternoon last Monday, copper jumped 10 cents on COMEX and stayed there for a number of hours.  Other than that, copper started and ended the week the same way it started, about $2.78 per pound.  On the negative side of copper, sadly copper and copper alloy scrap exports were down 25 percent this January, year over year. Pic

Also, some will say Copper is a key global economic indicator.  For many years, copper has been called either Dr. Metal, or the metal with a PhD.  The Dr. name is due to many say, the health of the economy can be determined by the price of copper.  The PhD name is for PhDs are smart, so they know what is going on, meaning the price of copper is an indication of the strength of the economy.  Put together, things are ok, but not great.  Copper was about 68% higher in April of 2011, versus today.  It was $4.66 per pound in April 2011 and $2.78 today.

CME Group - Copper Prices Graph

As for steel, for those that missed last week’s report, it’s worth mentioning that about 10 days ago, Steel Dynamics which owns OmniSource the nation’s second largest recycler of metals, issued a profit warning to Wall Street.  They said profits were going to be lower than all had been expecting.  The flood of finished steel coming into the United States from overseas, lower volumes and the lower prices of scrap metal, were the stated reasons.  It was also stated that they would lose money this quarter in Recycling.  Nucor Steel, the second largest steel producer in the United States also issued a profit warning.  They gave the same two reasons as Steel Dynamics and said that their recycling operations would have declining profits.

Related last week there were various meetings in Washington DC with U.S. Senators, the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S Trade representative, to discuss possible dumping of steel into the U.S. from other countries below cost.  As part of this, the President of U.S. Steel has called for congress to act on what he says are these unfair trade practices.

Also, with the new month, steel prices may change this week.  Some say the move could be sideways and there are indications that some prices could be up.  A key issue is, shred feed remains very scarce, due to very low inflows of obsolete scrap.

AMM - Steel Production Graph

On the positive side, after a huge drop in US steel production, we are now seeing a small increase in production levels. 

With that, scrap metal prices remain at their multi year low. 

AMM - Scrap Metal Prices Graph

Aluminum after quite the drop in the past year has stabilized and saw some increases last week.  Many feel very good about the price of Aluminum, as the new Ford F 150 ramps up with its all-aluminum exterior.  Related there is word on the street that Chrysler is about to follow with aluminum exteriors.

AMM - Aluminum Prices Report

Oil remains a mixed news story.  The oil and gas drilling rig count continues to decline in the United States.

Market Realist - Oil Rig Count Graph

Orders continue to slow down with steel mills making less steel for drilling rigs.  On the positive side as we continue to say, with prices of fuel remaining low, it is starting to have a positive effect on many parts of the economy as people and companies have more money in their pocket.

As for the recycling industry, there is no good news.  Volumes remain low, with margins going up a bit, not due to less competitive pressure, but due to pure math; as prices go down, margin percent goes up.  In reality though, with volumes down, profits are down.

There were no changes in our scrap metal prices last week in North Carolina, with our Raleigh prices of #1 copper being $2.20 per pound, but could go up this week.  Prepared Steel is still being purchased for $6.25 per hundred pounds.

Lastly, our best wished to Jim Lawrence, in his new role at AMM.

With that we hope all have a Safe and Profitable week.   Tune in next week for the Monday Commodity and Recycling report.