Like many others in the scrap industry, you’re probably wondering, “When are scrap prices going up?”. If we knew the answer to that, we would have our own private island in the middle of the Caribbean. While that’s not the answer you were probably looking for we can tell you one thing, we know what we know TODAY. Below we have some things for you to keep in mind while watching the market for scrap prices.
The team at the iScrap App understands the frustration that comes along with waiting for scrap prices to climb if they have been down, but the best we can do is continue to provide you with the information we know. For example, we know that scrap metal recycling will always be around but we have to understand how the markets work to grasp the price fluctuations that occur.
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What We Do Know About Scrap Prices
Market Prices – We know that when sites like LME and Comex are reporting a future drop of scrap prices for commodities like steel, copper, and gold we can expect prices to drop almost immediately. So when the markets are seemingly to climb again, we can expect prices to follow suit.
Industry Need – This is a simple case of supply and demand. If there is a small need for materials for technology, manufacturing, and construction, you can expect prices to also drop. But if the need for new construction, the need for supplies rises along with that too.
International Trade – When countries that import a lot of scrap metal, like China and India, begin to slow down their imports, you can almost be certain prices will drop. This is similar to supply and demand. If they are running low on commodity supplies, the need for them will go up, along with the price they are willing to pay for them.
Important To Cash In – We know we have a lot of scrappers that disagree with this stance, however we believe it is important to continue to cash in your scrap metal you collect during low scrap prices. We don’t prefer to take a gamble if the scrap markets drop again. However if you have the right space to securely hold onto your scrap metal, then you can take that route as well and wait out the market.
What We Don’t Know About Scrap Prices
Beyond The Market – Unfortunately we haven’t figured out how to tell the future yet. So beyond what the markets are forecasting a few months in advance, we don’t know what next year will bring. Perhaps the markets will recover 10-fold in the next 8 months, or maybe it will continue its downward spiral. Until we know we can only continue to watch the market and see where it’s going in the near future.
How Much They Will Climb – If the markets do begin to recover and scrap prices are beginning to rise, it is difficult to state how much they will continue to climb. Just like mentioned before about prices dropping, markets can only forecast so far in the future, so we don’t know the potential of the rise in scrap prices.
World Events – We don’t know if there will be any events or economic collapses that happen in the future. So something similar to what Greece went through could happen and throw the world’s economy off completely. While we can be prepared for the unexpected, we don’t actually know what will happen and when.
What You Can Do
Follow The Market – Continue to scrap or hold onto your materials as you wish as scrap prices are fluctuating and keep an eye out on the market. The iScrap App Team delivers weekly scrap price updates that can give you a better idea of what is happening and what’s the come in the near future.
Report Your Prices – To add to the knowledge and information that the iScrap App can provide, we also allow users like yourself to report what your current scrap prices are in your area. You can report your scrap prices by locating your yard in our directory and select “Post Prices”. This will assist other scrappers in your area to see what the current prices are and what to expect.
