Scrap dealers in Plateau State are lamenting the drastic fall in the price of scrap metals in the market, saying the development has brought the business to a standstill in the state.
This, they said, has persisted for the past two months, as they continue to count losses occasioned by low patronage from buyers.
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Our correspondent reports that most of the used metals usually collected from around the North are taken to steel companies in Lagos for recycling, adding that the business of scrap in the past decade was booming until recently when prices crashed.
According to the dealers, prior to the price fall, they bought a kilogramme of the scrap at N250 to N300, which they transported to Ogun or Lagos, and sold for a profit.
They said presently, the selling price has crashed to N200 per kilo, a development that has caused many of them to sell at a loss.
Ahmad Suleiman, a scrap dealer, said, “The price of metal has fallen to the level that you must incur a loss.”
“What you are seeing behind me are two trucks loaded with scrap. I bought a kilo at the rate of N300, but it is sold in Lagos at N217 now. It may fall lower tomorrow. Some people have lost their capital.
“Last week, two trucks were on their way when I asked them to return because I realised that I would lose almost N4 million if they got to Lagos.”
Usaini Suleiman, another scrap dealer, said, “When we were buying a kilo at the rate of N250 to N270, the price was also good in Lagos. But now everything has changed. Even if it is N50 per kilo, we can’t buy it now because I don’t have the money. This is what we are going through.
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