{"id":1545963,"date":"2025-07-08T21:40:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T01:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1545963"},"modified":"2025-07-08T21:40:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T01:40:00","slug":"why-metal-recyclers-are-optimistic-about-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/why-metal-recyclers-are-optimistic-about-tariffs\/1545963\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Metal Recyclers Are Optimistic About Tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Metal Recyclers Are Optimistic About Tariffs<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours)<\/p>\n

The recycled metals industry is growing domestically and internationally, in part fueled by the rapid expansion of construction and automotive manufacturing. Now, tariffs may be giving it a boost.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A slab of steel is heated and rolled into a coil of steel at the NLMK Indiana steel mill in Portage, Ind., on March 15, 2018. The mill utilizes recycled scrap steel, melted in an electric arc furnace, to produce new steel. Scott Olson\/Getty Images<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The U.S. market for scrap metal recycling registered<\/a> a growth of 3.7 percent between 2017 and 2021. The global recycled metals market is expected to expand 6 percent from 2025 to 2034, according to an analysis<\/a> by Precedence Research. It was valued at $2.8 billion in 2024.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, industry insiders say U.S. recycled metals businesses haven\u2019t experienced any direct impacts from new tariffs, but they\u2019ve noticed changes in demand for various alloys.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 10, President Donald Trump imposed<\/a> a 25 percent tariff on imports of aluminum and steel, raising that to 50 percent on June 3.<\/p>\n

Recycled metals sourced from North America are not subject to the tariffs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some U.S. companies are now splitting their metal sourcing, Michael Schmied, a commodities expert and senior financial analyst at Kredite Schweiz, told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re using imported metals for the non-critical parts of their operations, but turning to domestic or recycled minerals for essential production because those alloys aren\u2019t subject to import duties.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Buyers may be reluctant to pay higher prices on imported metals if recycled materials offer similar quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat shift creates a baseline demand for recycled metals that didn\u2019t exist before \u2026. Businesses are treating domestic supply like insurance against future supply chain shocks,\u201d Schmied said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve noticed that the tariffs lifted prices at first, but the effect was mixed. Higher costs on imported steel nudged buyers to care more about quality and consistency, which let some recyclers pick up new orders<\/strong>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Schmied said the tariffs also \u201craised equipment expenses and squeezed cash flow, so any upside came with extra risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said an example is metal shredder wear parts, which many in the industry import from China, and which are now subject to import duties.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, the [Trump] policy opened a door, but it also raised the stakes for everyone in the supply chain,\u201d Schmied said.<\/p>\n

Generally, when scrap metal is sorted and purified by a recycling<\/a> company, the metal is melted down and recast\u2014made into rolls, ingots, or sheets\u2014depending on the type of metal and its intended purpose.<\/p>\n

After this process, recycled metals can be sold to manufacturers for use in new products. This can be done with significantly less expense<\/a> than mining new, unprocessed elements.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jodie Brewster, senior vice president of Texas Metals & Recycling, told The Epoch Times her business hasn\u2019t experienced any operational setbacks from Trump\u2019s tariffs.<\/p>\n

Thousands of cans sit in bags brought in by independent recyclers to Sure We Can, a nonprofit recycling center in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on March 13, 2024. Some U.S. companies are using imported metals for non-critical parts of their operations, and turning to domestic or recycled minerals for essential production because those alloys aren\u2019t subject to import duties, according to Schmied. Spencer Platt\/Getty Images<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

She said the scrap keeps coming in and the business is always able to find buyers\u2014usually industrial manufacturers, known as \u201cmills.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the trends she has observed in recent months is a price increase for aluminum and a steep drop in the price of heavy metals, including steel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA truck\u2019s worth [of aluminum] today would sell for like a dollar a pound. A year ago, that would\u2019ve sold for 91 cents a pound,\u201d Brewster said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have active buyers who want aluminum, sometimes wanting more than we can provide.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Dmitriy Cheban, a partner at Tennessee-based All Metal Recycling company, has witnessed a similar pattern with aluminum prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll types of aluminum are wanted. You can make all kinds of stuff with it,\u201d Cheban told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n

He said aluminum is the most profitable scrap metal his business takes in. He noted that part of that is due to the extreme versatility of the alloy, which is used in everything from cans to car parts, furniture, and even medical equipment.<\/p>\n

Cheban said he can sell aluminum for between 50 cents and 90 cents a pound. Comparatively, steel is only going for about 7 cents a pound, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther metal prices [going down], like steel, it\u2019s from all the market uncertainty<\/strong>,\u201d Cheban said.<\/p>\n

Brewster has experienced the same with steel prices, seeing an overall drop in the demand for heavy metals in Texas mills.<\/p>\n

The steel Brewster sells now is \u201cshredder feed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the rest\u00a0here…<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nTue, 07\/08\/2025 – 17:40<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/commodities\/why-metal-recyclers-are-optimistic-about-tariffs<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Metal Recyclers Are Optimistic About Tariffs Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours) The recycled metals industry is growing domestically and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1545964,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1545963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1545963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1545963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1545963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1545964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1545963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1545963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1545963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}