ABC Radio Australia
Scrap metal dealers across Asia are feeling the pain of the plummeting price of metals.
Radio Australia's Sonia Randhawa reports aluminium, copper, zinc, nickel and steel prices are at their lowest in over a year, with over a third wiped off most of their prices.
In Thailand, the price of scrap metal has dropped from18 Baht to just 2 or 3 Baht, or less than 9 cents per kilogram.
Local news reports say many scavengers are leaving the business.
Moreover, the downturn in Chinese and US manufacturing has eaten away the market for most metals, leaving some metal dealers with greater difficulty in finding buyers.
While bigger businesses are also being hit by the falling prices, some of the middle men are seeing opportunities.
In Malaysia, scrap metal dealers are buying metal and stock-piling it. .
"The metal price going down is better as I can buy and stock up," said Maniarasan Kuppan, who runs M Ridzwan Metal Trading.
"Now I have accumulated my quantity.
For me the lower the better, we can buy large quantities of metal. If the metal prices go up, there will be lots of problems.
But the impact on the scavengers can mean more than just reduced income.
Risky business
In Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, scavengers risk their lives to scavenge metal from unexploded bombs left over from the Vietnam war.
He explains the risks these people face.
"They have a sizeable explosive charge and they are very dangerous," said Allan Vosburgh, director for explosive safety with the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation.
"So what happens is people are out sometimes with metal detectors, looking for metal fragments.
"Sometimes in the search for metal fragments , they find the sub-munitions and unfortunately when they interact with the sub-munitions, sometimes they explode and they either badly injure or kill people."
Mr Vosburgh has proposed solutions to the problem - for instance, paying people a premium to identify possible ordinance to bomb disposal experts.
Plunging prices, however, are going to drive scavengers into more dangerous territory, where metal is more abundant.
Radio Australia's Sonia Randhawa reports aluminium, copper, zinc, nickel and steel prices are at their lowest in over a year, with over a third wiped off most of their prices.
In Thailand, the price of scrap metal has dropped from18 Baht to just 2 or 3 Baht, or less than 9 cents per kilogram.
Local news reports say many scavengers are leaving the business.
Moreover, the downturn in Chinese and US manufacturing has eaten away the market for most metals, leaving some metal dealers with greater difficulty in finding buyers.
While bigger businesses are also being hit by the falling prices, some of the middle men are seeing opportunities.
In Malaysia, scrap metal dealers are buying metal and stock-piling it. .
"The metal price going down is better as I can buy and stock up," said Maniarasan Kuppan, who runs M Ridzwan Metal Trading.
"Now I have accumulated my quantity.
For me the lower the better, we can buy large quantities of metal. If the metal prices go up, there will be lots of problems.
But the impact on the scavengers can mean more than just reduced income.
Risky business
In Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, scavengers risk their lives to scavenge metal from unexploded bombs left over from the Vietnam war.
He explains the risks these people face.
"They have a sizeable explosive charge and they are very dangerous," said Allan Vosburgh, director for explosive safety with the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation.
"So what happens is people are out sometimes with metal detectors, looking for metal fragments.
"Sometimes in the search for metal fragments , they find the sub-munitions and unfortunately when they interact with the sub-munitions, sometimes they explode and they either badly injure or kill people."
Mr Vosburgh has proposed solutions to the problem - for instance, paying people a premium to identify possible ordinance to bomb disposal experts.
Plunging prices, however, are going to drive scavengers into more dangerous territory, where metal is more abundant.
No comments:
Post a Comment