Nonferrous

Will Auto Shredder Slowdown Cause a Grade to Vanish

With bleak ferrous scrap markets causing auto shredders throughout the U.S. to cut back their schedules (or grind to a halt), the nonferrous output from shredders has been curtailed.

As dismantlers in particular hold on to auto bodies in hopes of a better market (or any market), what had been a steady stream of shredded aluminum available to consumers is slowing to a trickle.

"I think that its true that with the depressed ferrous market, there is less raw material going through the shredding yards, and less material available going into the nonferrous secondary market," says Jim Diamond, vice president of scrap procurement with Wabash Alloys, Wabash, Ind. "I don’t think it has dried up," he said in early November of the supply of shredded aluminum, "but we’re beginning to feel that change this month."

What does a consumer like Wabash do when the shred stream begins to vanish? "We buy other grades of scrap, which are readily available," says Diamond. "It’s a very good feed product for the secondary industry," Diamond says of the shred, "but it is readily replaceable."

Aluminum Scrap Removed as USGS Leading Indicator

Do you think the aluminum scrap market is hard to figure out? Apparently, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Reston, Va., does as well. The agency has dropped scrap recovery as part of its formula for calculating its aluminum industry leading and coincident indexes. "The secondary activity, recovery of aluminum from scrap, was initially included in the coincident index because of its importance to overall aluminum supply," the USGS announced. "In recent years, however, scrap recovery has not coincided with primary aluminum activity or always followed changes in the business cycle," notes USGS Minerals Information Team member George Swisko.