about scrap metals price

umm...you realize all of this stuff are commodities (typically things that are used to make many other items). In this case, metals. Simple supply and demand economics "set" prices. Supply and demand finds the median price the people are willing to pay for X. Once you have the commodity price form the open market (the top of the food chain), then each level below will set their pricing based on that average price + whatever profit they can squeeze out. The phrase "whatever the market will bear" is this price...what other are willing to accept or pay for something.

Once you get down several levels (the aggregator yards or manufactures, regional yards, local yards etc)....all of these people tack on a small profit to the commodity price. That is how pricing is determined. Now you might have shorter term swings in that pricing (say a yard has committed to a larger yard for XXXXXX pounds of whatever) , they will take some or all of their built in profit out in order to fulfill that contract....but that would be a short term thing.

Commodities change pricing all the time like stocks...it is based on short term future orders of that material (ie I need XXXX amount to build these next month, so I need to buy XXXX amount toay where it will be delivered by the day I need it to manufacture my items).

Does that help??