American companies have complained for the past year that the headwinds of a strong dollar and a slowing Chinese economy are hurting their earnings.
For sellers of scrap metal, used cardboard boxes, and other waste, those headwinds are more like a hurricane.
Waste has long been a major U.S. export, providing material to be melted in foreign steel mills or made into new paper products. But the strength of the dollar has made American waste pricier abroad, cutting demand in China, Turkey and other markets.
Bob Hooper scavenges dumpsters and roadsides around Pittsburgh looking for steel, aluminum and other metals. But he's finding it harder to make a living. Photo: Jeff Swensen for The Wall Street Journal
U.S. exports of scrap materials have fallen by 36% since peaking at $32.6 billion 2011. Prices of shredded scrap steel have plunged about 18% so far this year and are down 41% since early 2012, according data collected by the Platts unit of McGraw Hill Financial Inc. The dollar is up about 17% since last July against a basket of major currencies compiled by the Federal Reserve.
That has been hard on the network of waste dealers and scrap gatherers who are the backbone of the industry.
Bob Hooper, who goes by Hoop, finds discarded metal on curbs and in dumpsters around Pittsburgh and carries it to scrapyards in a rusting Chevy pickup with a bungee cord to keep the driver’s door shut. He was making as much as $400 a day selling scrap just three years ago, he said. “Now I’m doing $100 to $200.”
Or less. On a recent day, he hauled in more than 1,000 pounds of scrap, including two discarded refrigerators, a water heater and a broken microwave buried in egg shells and other moist trash. After gasoline expenses, he netted about $80.
Top Logistics News
Get the latest news and analysis on logistics and supply chain via an email newsletter. Sign up. And see complete coverage at WSJ.com/Logistics
Turkey, whose steel mills are big users of scrap, has been buying less from the U.S. and more from Russia, Ukraine and other places with weaker currencies. Meanwhile, U.S. steel production has fallen in response to more imports, so American producers are buying less scrap.
See more: http://www.wsj.com
For sellers of scrap metal, used cardboard boxes, and other waste, those headwinds are more like a hurricane.
Waste has long been a major U.S. export, providing material to be melted in foreign steel mills or made into new paper products. But the strength of the dollar has made American waste pricier abroad, cutting demand in China, Turkey and other markets.
Bob Hooper scavenges dumpsters and roadsides around Pittsburgh looking for steel, aluminum and other metals. But he's finding it harder to make a living. Photo: Jeff Swensen for The Wall Street Journal
U.S. exports of scrap materials have fallen by 36% since peaking at $32.6 billion 2011. Prices of shredded scrap steel have plunged about 18% so far this year and are down 41% since early 2012, according data collected by the Platts unit of McGraw Hill Financial Inc. The dollar is up about 17% since last July against a basket of major currencies compiled by the Federal Reserve.
That has been hard on the network of waste dealers and scrap gatherers who are the backbone of the industry.
Bob Hooper, who goes by Hoop, finds discarded metal on curbs and in dumpsters around Pittsburgh and carries it to scrapyards in a rusting Chevy pickup with a bungee cord to keep the driver’s door shut. He was making as much as $400 a day selling scrap just three years ago, he said. “Now I’m doing $100 to $200.”
Or less. On a recent day, he hauled in more than 1,000 pounds of scrap, including two discarded refrigerators, a water heater and a broken microwave buried in egg shells and other moist trash. After gasoline expenses, he netted about $80.
Top Logistics News
Get the latest news and analysis on logistics and supply chain via an email newsletter. Sign up. And see complete coverage at WSJ.com/Logistics
Turkey, whose steel mills are big users of scrap, has been buying less from the U.S. and more from Russia, Ukraine and other places with weaker currencies. Meanwhile, U.S. steel production has fallen in response to more imports, so American producers are buying less scrap.
See more: http://www.wsj.com
Views here : Mumbai Scrap yard and Scrap Dealers in Mumbai
No comments:
Post a Comment