Example: My yard averaged $280 a ton for sheet for a couple of years. About a year ago, the price crashed to an average of $80 a ton.
I went to the yard today, and pretty much gave a load away for free. The payout? $54 per ton. A whopping 2.7 cents per pound.
The same load that 'normally' would have given me roughly $60 gave me a measly $11.45.
The main reason that we seen excellent prices was because China was going through 'boom' expansion. They were building like crazy.
The main reason that the market tanked is because China stopped their major expansion, and began unloading all of their excess steel onto the market.
I figured that steel would remain on average at $80 per ton for a few years until China has finished flooding the market, but $54 a ton??? It's almost like the market is crashing. I've scrapped for 25 years, and have never seen the prices fall so low...
Any ideas as to what is going on???
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