When You Should Hoard Your Scrap Metals

Posted: November 16, 2020

With the latest scrap prices in the industry, we have heard more customers and people visiting our scrap yard in Rockaway, NJ talking about holding onto materials. We get it. We really do. When you hear that some ferrous prices are even less than a penny per pound, how could you justify selling the material. With 12-year lows and no recovery in site for a while, we understand why it can be frustrating and why you would want to weather the storm.

Risks Taking When You Hoard Scrap Metals

When you are looking to hoard your scrap metals and save them up for higher prices, you have to realize you are taking a couple risks. One of them putting yourself at risk of stolen material from your property. When you are holding onto higher valued items like copper, brass, and wire, you are putting a target on your back for anyone that may know you are holding onto your metals.

Another risk is that you have enough room and the proper place to store the material, not only from being stolen, but also legally. Some municipals may fine you if you have a large quantity in your backyard or driveway just sitting around.

The Rockaway Recycling team says that one of the biggest risks that you when you hoard your metals, is taking the gamble that prices will rise. We don’t know exactly when scrap prices are going back up, so you can be sitting on your materials for a longer period than you initially thought.

Those Are The Risks, Now What?

Rockaway Recycling has always been adamant about selling materials when you have them. Despite the belief that people think we just want the material, we practice what we preach. We are constantly moving our material out of our facility and never sitting on metals ourselves. We don’t believe in taking the risks and possibly lose out long term. While we don’t suggest hoarding your scrap metal, we understand why you would and respect your choice to do that. So let’s figure out when you should hoard your scrap metals.

When you are thinking about hoarding your metals, take a look at a few things. You want to make sure you can understand how scrap prices are determined and how they can impact the prices at Rockaway Recycling. Also you want to make sure that you understand the risks we talked about before. If you are a contractor like an electrician or plumber, and you have the storage to hold onto your metals it can be a good idea.

We also suggest that you make sure you have your metals separated properly even if you are hoarding them. When prices are low like they are right now, it’s important to have the ability to quickly move materials if there is a quick spike in prices. Some times during these times, copper could jump $0.10/lb. in one day, while steel drops again. So having everything separated even when you are storing metals can help you quickly pick up and sell if there is a quick spike in prices one day.

Time To Analyze

Now that you have an idea of what your options are when scrap prices are low, it’s time to figure out what would work best for you and how you can profit the most. Just keep in mind, scrap prices are constantly fluctuating. They can be down one day and up another. When scrap prices are low, it’s important to keep your eyes on our current scrap metal prices page and see the daily changes.

If you want to talk to us about the current scrap prices we are paying at our New Jersey scrap yard, feel free to give us a call at 1-800-317-Junk or contact us below with you question. Rockaway Recycling has been serving North New Jersey with scrap metal recycling services since 1977 and will continue to be up front with our current scrap prices and information about how you can make more money on your scrap metal.

Current Scrap Prices at Rockaway Recycling

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