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For the third consecutive month the scrap metal market has declined in a month over month comparison. Falling almost 4% compared to the July report, the average national price for crushed auto bodies is near $172 per gross ton. Stacked up against the same time period last year, 2017 declined over 8%. This would be the largest year over year decline seen since April 2016.
Every regional zone saw a decline varying from just .5% up to 7%. This largest fall in price occurred in Zone 5, the southeastern United States. Historically, our August scrap metal market report was stable, averaging a 1.3% increase in prices over the last 5 years. Going forward, September has traditionally been a month of slightly shrinking scrap prices with small declines in price in 4 out of the last 5 years.
Prices have fallen mainly because of a downturn in global demand from manufacturers, especially in China, pressure on supplies, and the increased use of substitutes, said Joe Pickard, chief economist and director of commodities at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. -Reuters, Low scrap metal prices hurting even U.S. garbage scavengers