Shred prices around Chattanooga, TN today.

Sold some shred today in Cleveland, TN right above Chattanooga. Sold 720 lbs. shred for $36.00 ( $5.00 per hundred). Also sold some copper transformers, ballasts and small electric motors all at 10 cents per pound. Got talking some to one of the yard guys there and I was saying to him how bad the scrap prices were because of the dollar keeps climbing up on the currency markets. He said "Naw, that's not it. Scrap prices have been down because of longshoreman strike. Had 85,000 ton shred sent back because of it."

prices in Athens are low to on cars ... here in Monroe County its so low its not worth the effort to sell anything ... guess I will have to hold on to what little I have for a little while longer

Heard there is a 2-3 month delay until the west coast ports are cleared and back to running as normal

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Originally Posted by HyderConsulting

Sold some shred today in Cleveland, TN right above Chattanooga. Sold 720 lbs. shred for $36.00 ( $5.00 per hundred). Also sold some copper transformers, ballasts and small electric motors all at 10 cents per pound. Got talking some to one of the yard guys there and I was saying to him how bad the scrap prices were because of the dollar keeps climbing up on the currency markets. He said "Naw, that's not it. Scrap prices have been down because of longshoreman strike. Had 85,000 ton shred sent back because of it."

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I live in Ooltewah. Which scrapyard do you think is the best to use? I am mostly processing very small amounts of e-waste, but I get a fair pile of steel built up. Fair to me is several hundred pounds and I'm curious what is the best scrapyard in Chattanooga to use. Hope you see this post.

Sorry I hadn't replied back but I don't do too much on the forum these days. I use Commercial Metals on Washington St. in Chatt. for my nonferrous metals. I take my sheet steel to Keasler here in Cleveland on Overhead Bridge Rd. NE. They are a lot closer to me than Chatt. and the prices about the same. Saves me time and gas. I checked Commercial Metals website and sheet steel is now $5 a hundred pound at their place. Could go lower with the dollar trading stronger on the currency markets which is the main reason for lower scrap prices lately, not demand. Good luck!

Im in Athens but if I was in Chattanooga I'd probably look into SA metals. I think a lot of these smaller yards around east tennessee sell them their metal since they are the biggest nationwide metal recycler in the area. I only do cars right now so logistics is a factor for me. I can only take two cars at a time on my rollback and the cost of fuel.

I tried calling SA to get a better rate on my cars but their advice was to bring them to the local yards here and they knew the exact price in my area so Im thinking they probably have a deal with them. Some of the yards around here have crushers and balers so they can fill a tractor trailer with cars/shred and haul them to chatt or knox.

Ive heard of some small guys in Chatt getting some premium rates from SA over the advertised prices to people off the street. If nothing else they were very nice over the phone. They also advised me to expect steel to keep going lower so I just cashed in all my cars Im not keeping for parts.

Cashed in another few 10 yard lugger bins last week. Shred was at $40/ton (with them picking it up). I can't complain too much about it as I can throw printers and other crap in without any issues. When prices start dropping, the best bet to counter low prices is resale stuff, especially on cars. I don't do a ton with vehicles, but the amount of sellable car parts that are sent to the shredder is mind blowing. Even if someone were to just pull a few pieces off to sell and send the rest to shred, it would be enough to keep an operation profitable.

The trick is knowing which vehicles have parts that sell. To me it makes no sense to hold onto unpopular cars trying to sell parts when steel prices are dropping. Id rather cash them in and go buy more cars.

I put a lot of perfectly good car parts into the shredder but unfortunately theres only so many hours in the day and only so much room to keep junk cars. I also work a full time non scrap related job.