US scrap metal market declines

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Nov 2008

It is reported that the piles of junk on the yard at EJ Knight Scrap Material Co are growing. And that’s not good news. Just ask Mark Kamensky, a third generation salvage yard owner. Mr Mark Kamensky said that "I probably got a half a million dollars here in good times. In today’s market, it’s probably worth USD 100,000 and that’s if I could get somebody to take it. Nobody wants it. I couldn’t give it away."

In about two months the scrap metal business has gone from boom to bust. It happened quickly.
Around Labor Day, Mr Kamensky and others in the scrap metal business noticed a fundamental change that was triggered when the bottom fell out of the international market.
Mr Rick Caldwell GM of Schnitzer Steel’s Columbus plant said that it was abrupt. He added that "The bottom line is China has pulled out of the market. There is no export now. It’s been that way for a couple of months."

Source: Steel Guru