5-15-2022

To our loyal customers of Kimmel Scrap:

It seems that all of our “experts” have a differing interpretations on what is happening and what to expect 3-6-9 months from now. In our industry of recycling, it used to be a $15.00 movement in commodities were seen as a large movement. I have always explained to those who were interested that we can be a very cyclical industry with a somewhat guaranteed cycle of 10 years. We could go 3-4 years without a significant movement up or down. In the last three months we have seen swings of 25 to 30% in prices for ferrous commodities and 20 to 25 % in some non-ferrous as well. How do we manage these swings while still maintaining inventories of thousand tons? It has to do with lessons learned over the past 72 years. My father had described his troubled times in the industry, and I have also lived with the major downturns of the late 70’s and 80’s and 90’s. These make you wary of over extending yourself and trying to be prepared for what may come. Like you, we have significant issues with transportation whether rail or over the road, fuel, parts, labor and inflation.

As we all are experiencing much higher fuel costs, I would ask that we all try and reduce trips and maximize each truck load. We have seen diesel fuel costs jump from $3.20 in January to over $5.25 in May. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
Robert B. Kimmel

Robert Kimmel-100
Ken Schutt-102
T.J. Yarema 103
Nicole Lamar-107
Sam Peters-109
Holly Sievert-115