Importing scrap thru Alibaba

Hello

I am one of the new to scrap business.

I feel I could make some money if I could import the metal scraps from China or any other countries through Alibaba.

Have you done this before and could you please share your two cents that will help me to do the business well

Originally Posted by Redhammer

Hello

I am one of the new to scrap business.

I feel I could make some money if I could import the metal scraps from China or any other countries through Alibaba.

Have you done this before and could you please share your two cents that will help me to do the business well

I think you are thinking backwards buddy.

Most of the scrap that is bought HERE ends up getting shipped over TO china or other countries where labor is cheap, to get processed/refined.

I do not think you could make money doing this.

I have only seen a few cases of Chinese scrap exporting. One is the scrap steel in end of 2015 when the steel price is ridiculously low in China. But the export duty is 40%, and only smugglers could make the profit. Around 100+ Chinese guys got arrested by selling to US steel makers.

Thank you for all your suggestions

What would you suggest if in case other than China.
The price shows cheaper that's why thought of that one actually

There are no easy ways to import metal, from anywhere, to the us and make money from it. IF there was, everyone would be doing it. What makes you special that you think you could? Unless you have contacts and buyers lined up, for more that what you are paying and the cost to get it to your buyers, there is no money to be made.

The ONLY way I think you COULD be able to, and it would be SUPER risky.... is to import a bunch of stuff speculativly, if you expect the price to go up a lot soon.


For example, say you can sell copper at $2/lb right now to any local scrap yard in the US, say you can get a ton (2000lb) from china for $5000 (spot plus some) + $500 to get it shipped to you.

Now you have 1 ton of copper to sit on. Now you wait. Now say you've waited a year, and copper at your local scrap yards is now buying at $3/lb, you can now sell them your 2000lbs of copper for $6000, netting you $500.


HOWEVER this is a lot of work, and requires, storage space and patience AND can go south if copper price goes down.... if you wanted to do this same "type" of thing but without having to actually take and hold the copper, you could look into the metals futures markets and buy futures contracts that essentially do the same thing as the whole process I described.... OR you can go plop your $5500 down in the casino and see what happens as that has about the same probablity of working

Can't deny your words for sure

If money earning is so simple means everybody should have rich in this business..

It depends on what metal you are looking into. If it is base metal or precious metal, it won’t have much chance wherever it is. Exotic metal? Probably.

The US imports over 4 million tons of scrap steel annually. For example a large chunk of Caribbean scrap metal is bought by Miami scrapyards. So there is clearly a market for importing. As with any sales, you need a supplier and buyer. Can't say about Alibaba but your best bet is to find underserved areas and buy their scrap to resell, whether to the US or anywhere else.

Originally Posted by FinalSorter

It depends on what metal you are looking into. If it is base metal or precious metal, it won’t have much chance wherever it is. Exotic metal? Probably.

great suggestion.
i am a newbie, could you please give some examples on exotic metals?

Originally Posted by JJinLV

The US imports over 4 million tons of scrap steel annually. For example a large chunk of Caribbean scrap metal is bought by Miami scrapyards. So there is clearly a market for importing. As with any sales, you need a supplier and buyer. Can't say about Alibaba but your best bet is to find underserved areas and buy their scrap to resell, whether to the US or anywhere else.

thank you for sharing yours...