Well we are in the worst of it now, weather wise that is.  Typically February is the toughest month of the year in the salvage business, you all know what I’m talking about from the parts and cars frozen to the ground in the yard to the fuel gelled up in the ramp truck that’s 50 miles away. It’s February that separates the men from the boys in this business!

OK it’s the start of a new year it’s time to get going!  No one is going to say things have been easy or normal in recent years, let’s look at the recent past as a learning experience and take what we’ve learned to change the way we do things and make our businesses more profitable going forward.

As the year comes to an end, I can’t help but think how tough it has been for yard owners here in the Northeast.  Having been a counter man, a salvage buyer, a ramp truck driver and a dismantler in a salvage yard, I can identify with the issues that face yard owners.  Let’s look at some of the issues that face the yards now that were not part of the business twenty or thirty years ago. 

Wow!  Things certainly change quickly in the precious metals markets.  In last month’s article I reported that precious metals had been relatively stable with moderate price changes all year.  I was looking toward a busy fall season with salvage yard operators enjoying good pricing for their materials. 

Fall is here.  This is my favorite time of year, the air is crisp and the scenery is spectacular!  Fall is also one of the busiest times of year for us here at Recore Trading.  Most of the yards we deal with start their annual “let’s get things cleaned and up and off the ground before the snow comes” ritual.  The “Old Farmer’s Almanac is predicting another winter with lots and lots of snow…

It has been a very interesting summer this year as far as the prices of the commodities we deal with are concerned.  To date, we have not seen the typical mid to late summer price drop of ferrous scrap in the Northeast.  As most of you know some of the steel mills close for vacation during the summer months, causing a supply/demand situation where price drops of $20.00 per ton were not uncommon.

August in the scrap business typically means a lot of people vacationing, some businesses closing for vacation, even the big mills that process vast amounts of scrap are in neutral.

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I say that things are good with a great deal of caution, in this uncertain global economy, nothing is certain or predictable.

Spring and fall are the busiest times of year for us at Recore Trading. The salvage yards we deal with are finally clear of snow and they can actually see the cars in their yards. It is the time of year when yards feel they can finally get going and back to business as usual after a long hibernation of fighting snow and frigid cold.