So what's the plan guys? Haul light iron and hoard non-ferrous?

That's about all I've been doing. Breaking down what I can as small as I can and keeping my aluminum/brass/copper as neatly as I can. I haul in the shred trailer when it's full.

When my phone rings about scrap I've been saying no a lot lately. Just got a call that sounds somewhat promising. 2 water heaters and "30lbs of copper pipe". I'm not holding my breath but I'll show up tomorrow and see what's going on. If it really is 30lbs of copper pipe it'll go in the shed and get a lock put on it. #1 is selling at $1.75 here. That's a tough price for me to stomach right now. I know other parts of the country are worse, but I miss the $3.75 days.



So I guess I'll continue to hoard what I can store without making a mess and hauling in the shred for gas money. Just broke down 36lbs of brand new faucets. They have been on and off ebay...some missing parts, some banged up. Some brand new. I still have some I need to get back up. Some sell like hotcakes..some don't. But I have $42 worth of plumbers brass that's going in the shed. I wish they were worth closer to $100.

Anyways, hope everyone is doing well. I'm slowing down. I used to run all around town no matter what so I could hand out business cards and provide great, on time service. I'm pumping the brakes now. If it doesn't sound like a solid ($50+) score, I hold off.

Working my day job doesn't help either. They keep me busy and scrapping/junk hauling is something I do to try to help me get ahead. We'll see what the future holds.

I have a feeling prices will continue to drop for a while. Maybe by the time I can get $2.25 for plumbers brass I'll have 1000# of it!

Keep on grindin',
Spencer
CTS Solutions

I would say to sell off the steel and alum. Hold on to copper, Wire, and brass. If any motors or Transformers, I would strip the copper. Steel takes up too much room and also does alum for its weight. I look at it like, A garage full of appliances is ok, But in that same garage, I'd rather have full totes of copper, wire and brass. And no my garage is not full of copper or brass :/

Just my opinion. Problem is we all deal with different amounts of Volume.

What I am doing is this. The yard I go to has a punch card after 10 trips the next trip you get + $.10 bonus pricing on all items. Take 10 loads of steel then my bonus trip is when I bring in all my other stuff. I am kinda afraid of hording the good stuff as prices keep falling...

Just hoarding for now, but my lively hood is not dependent on scrapping (nor do I get extra scrap materials from my job). I'll hoard until I have no room left. Space may become an issue eventually but I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it.


Break down, separate, and maximize your profit (if you have the space and time)

I guess I'm lucky that I own an abandoned rock quarry. So I have a nice big hole in the ground where I can store junk and no one can see it to complain about it. I'm selling almost nothing. Just piling stuff up. I'm no longer dependent on scrap for my livelihood, so I can afford to stockpile it. All the steel goes in a big pile outside, and the non-ferrous is sorted in barrels or buckets or whatever and packed into a box truck body.

My fear about hoarding is who will start buying scrap metals again... China? United States (our hand are tied on what we can process here)... India, or some nation in Africa. Reuse, Repurpose, Resell all look better than the scrap market lately.

I was talking to one of the Chinese guys at work. He's sort of a short-timer at my place, in between finishing his education and his more permanent career path (probably); completing a substantial needed task and resume building. Economics is not his specialty but he's a smart guy and can read a situation pretty fast.

Anyway, I was having lunch with him after a meeting we had both been in and I happened to bring up the issue of the Chinese gov not letting the yuan float in world currency trading. I said us Americans want the yuan to trade at its real value vs. the other fiat currencies. His eyes got real wide and he said no, that can't happen, because the purchasing power of many of the Chinese would be greatly reduced if their currency was more expensive. And that might cause...unrest.

The Chinese leaders have a hard time getting off of the treadmill of keeping their fast growing economy going (if only to build ghost cities) and having the masses get poorer (with the true value of the currency trading) and possibly revolting. That is the greatest fear their leadership has, having another revolution with millions and millions dead. How long they can do their multi-balled juggling act is unknown. But it could get real ugly, real fast if the binders come off...

1. Despite the prices of scrap metals right now, I think there is nothing but a prosperous future in recycling anything. We (the world) can't continue to deal with our waste as we have in the past. Resources no matter how they are used, will need to be utilized in a resourceful way, getting the maximum potential from those resources. This will include the "end of life cycles" from all goods made and sold. We need to rethink our throw it away mentality, for no other reason, if not "be living with our trash", (someone will be).

2. China is a major force and will factor into all of our lives from now on! With that said there is nothing but problems there and probably more liabilities than beneficial factors. There recent industrial accident is just one of many problems, demonstrating they have a long way to go before they are on a positive path!

3. Do what's best for your level of scrapping. I sell my light steel when I have around a ton to sell, always try to get the best price I can. In my area I have more than three yards I sell to on a regular basis. I have twenty more yards within 20 miles if I want to try for a better price. Everyone's situation is going to be different, the only real common denominator for all of us, is prices are at there lowest in many years (2008?).

4. The only certainty is in time everything changes!

I know they say there are stockpiles of commodities like copper
but is there a stockpile of stuff? Refrigerators?, ACs? Brand new Romex cable?
They must continue to make stuff. If china won't because of their government policy
of getting away from exports then someone will step up.
They may say reuse but the shelves are still stocked at Wal-Mart. Car dealerships
will always be full of cars. The prices i think will turn around quicker than we think

Break it down haul it it and repeat. I go with the flow on prices, it is what it is. I handle as little as possible and am always finding new ways to make money. Just purchased a storage unit, and can't afford to fill it with junk and store it forever.

I break things down, separate and haul in iron and aluminum. I can only haul so much weight at one time, so the brass and copper I stockpile until I have enough weight to negotiate better prices at the scrap yard. What I mean is I can't negotiate #1 iron unless I haul 10k pounds at a time. On the other hand, 250# of copper gives me negotiating power.

Originally Posted by greytruck

I would say to sell off the steel and alum. Hold on to copper, Wire, and brass. If any motors or Transformers, I would strip the copper. Steel takes up too much room and also does alum for its weight. I look at it like, A garage full of appliances is ok, But in that same garage, I'd rather have full totes of copper, wire and brass. And no my garage is not full of copper or brass :/

Just my opinion. Problem is we all deal with different amounts of Volume.

Ditto for me. I am sitting on about 24 5 gal buckets of #1 and #2 copper (all separated), and 2 buckets of brass, and 18 50 lb paper feed sacks (35-40 lbs avg each) stuffed full of #2 insulated. I have an 800 sq ft work shop on my property, so I have plenty of room, and as I only do this as a side venture, I am not in danger of filling up my shop beyond capacity.