This is the Commodities and Recycling Report, brought to you by BENLEE the industry leader in Roll Off Trailers and Open Top Scrap Trailers, as well as Raleigh and Goldsboro Metal Recycling, the leaders in North Carolina for Scrap Metal, Cardboard, Electronics and Junk Cars.
Today is Tuesday, May 26th, 2015. My name is Greg Brown, President and CEO of the companies.
The overall economy, continues its slow growth around the world, which while too slow for some, the growth is there. Wall Street continued to hit new highs this week and even the Chinese Stock market is up over 90% this year.
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| Steel Production - Goldsboro Metal Recycling |
While ferrous production remains low it picked up a bit last week and is near a multi-month high. While still low, it is better than it has been.
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| Steel Prices - 801 N. John St, Goldsboro, NC, 27530 |
Ferrous prices remained steady this week in the U.S., but price pressure has been building for overseas shipments. Many believe there will be a $20 or more per GT price increase in June, but as we have seen before this could change. A key is that even as warm weather has swept across the country; flows of obsolete material into scrap yards remains very weak.
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| US Oil Rig Count - (919) 731-5600 |
The oil rig count remains a major drag on steel consumption, but after falling for months, week after week, the rig count only fell by one last week. Low oil prices have caused this dramatic drop, but as we have all seen, with oil prices having risen in recent months, the number of rigs in the U.S. is stabilizing.
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| Copper Prices - Goldsboro Metal Copper Prices |
Copper had a very bad week. It started the week at about 2.93 per pound on COMEX and as we go to press, we are at $2.81 per pound, down about 12 cents for the week.
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| Aluminum Prices - Goldsboro Scrap Metal Prices |
Aluminum has continued its dramatic fall in recent weeks. It remains not clear as to what is happening, but the only thing we know is that prices continue to fall. Chinese imports and warehouses full of material remain reasons for the drop.
Another major publically traded scrap company released poor earnings this week. With ferrous prices stabilizing and coming back a bit, that has been very positive, but Copper and Aluminum have been down, which is a major negative going forward.
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| Housing Starts - North Carolina Scrap Metal Recycling |
On a very positive note, housing starts hit a multi year high in April. Housing creates significant jobs and boosts many aspects of the economy, so it is a very positive sign.
Prices for Aluminum have come down in Raleigh and Goldsboro this week.
Steel and Junk cars remained steady. Please call us at 919-828-5426 in Raleigh and 919-731-5600 in Goldsboro for prices.
With that we hope all have a safe and profitable week. Tune in next week for the Commodity and Recycling Report.
