I think that even the bigger operations we see, are just tiny specks in the worlds metal markets.
The scrapyards near me, theres only one beside a railway siding, the others must fill trucks & take them to the wharf to unload it i guess.
They fill up slowly, in the case of the one that takes cars, it takes months, maybe 6 months & then pretty much overnight they crush them into cubes & they dissapear.
Even the one by the rail yard, months of steel buildup & gone in a day.
Nonferrous goes into a shipping container, so thats not really noticed by me. But even a whole years worth of Copper for me is just a gaylords full.
Thats tiny to a scrapyard, remarkable only in the sense that somebody there will mention it during a smoko break, only because i sold a whole years worth in one day.
I can imagine that a scrapyard might put together a shipping container of Copper #2 every month.
That goes to the broker/big scrapyard that the public hasn't access to.
They sell it to a broker to fullfill a contract.
And that buyer buys 10 containers full a day.
The average, or above average scrapper simply does not fit in anywhere except as a single scrapper.
Better money is going to involve contract$ & unless you have a dedicated ample consistent source of scrap then you wont get contracts.
The best one could do is to save up & once you have, say 500 Kgs call your scrapyard & tell them & ask "for a better price on it". And once they are nearly filling their shipping container they will call you & offer a better price.
But you better have exactly what you said you had, or better.
The advantages to the scrapyard that will get you the better price is.
1/ They didnt have to fork out their $$ a month ago to buy your scrap back then, better $ management.
2/ They can fill their order quicker & get their $$ quicker.
3/ Somewhere somebodys just fullfilled their contract. Happy buyers make better customers.
4/ Theres just a few days between getting their $$ & you getting yours. And its one of their bigger $$ individual buys. Not 30 individual buys from 30 customers with a big bucket full of Copper.
Ie, one sale, not 30, & just when they needed it & their load went out the door while their $$ returned a few days later.
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