Is your scrap yard dead?

I dropped off a few tons of light steel 11 days ago. The place was a madhouse at 11:30 on a Saturday morning. They had just enough cash to pay me in small bills. They said they had been overwhelmed that morning. I went back to the same place yesterday to drop off some non-ferrous. The place was dead. Their sheet iron price was down, but I could not believe there was nothing coming in. I saw no ferrous coming in at all. I was there 40 minutes or so. There were a couple small loads of non-ferrous in the back of pickup trucks and some bags of cans in cars. I was the only one with a trailer.

I will be going to another yard tomorrow to drop off a very small load of sheet. They are paying more, so it will be interesting to see how busy they are. It's actually the last I have. As a part time scrapper, I noticed a big drop off in stuff on the curb 3 to 4 weeks ago. I also stopped getting calls from my regular places. I originally thought there were just that many more scrappers out there. But I haven't seen much in the back of anyone elses truck either, so I thought perhaps there just isn't as much being put out. Does the amount of scrap on a curb foretell an economic downturn? I haven't seen many scrappers on the road since last week either. Today, while I was doing something else, I saw a cast aluminum grill. I couldn't get it and completely forgot about it. Hours later I drove by and it was still there. That would not have happened even 10 days ago.

Originally Posted by 01GTB

I will be going to another yard tomorrow to drop off a very small load of sheet. They are paying more, so it will be interesting to see how busy they are.

Just got back. They were in fact paying $250 per ton. The highest around. And the place was dead. I commented on it to the woman working there. She said it had been really slow all week.

Went from lines to get on the scale to nothing. The last 3 times I went I was the only one there. The machinery was quiet and the yard was the cleanest I've ever seen it. Creepy.