The nation’s largest ferrous scrap recyclers
vie to feed the world’s hunger for metal.

Scrap metal dealers are not generally accustomed to the spotlight so when Metal Management, Inc., Chicago, was the subject of Wall Street Journal’s “Heard on the Street” feature last Spring, it gained some attention within the industry.

Recognition by the wider financial and business media may be rare for scrap processors, but the scrap market of 2003 and early 2004 has been no ordinary market.

After toiling through a price slump that started in the late 1900s and ran with few upswings until drifting up in 2002 and then sharply up again in 2003, the companies that buy and sell ferrous scrap suddenly found themselves dealing with larger numbers on their financial spreadsheets.

It can be generally concluded that 2003 was a good year for a company to be one of those appearing on Recycling Today’s list of the “20 Largest Scrap Processors in the U.S.”

Nearly all of them can trace their roots back to humble small business origins, with even the larger publicly held companies consisting of combined assets of several such companies.

Not only in 2003 – when scrap yards were bustling with activity – but through entire up-and-down cycles, managers and employees of these largest companies can be proud of the mountains (of scrap) that they move.

The Advantage Metals Recycling LLC, Kansas City, Mo., has grown steadily to build market share and extend its reach outward both east and west into Kansas and Missouri. The company operates two auto shredders and 12 scrap facilities. (More facilities have been added since this article was printed.) On its website at www.galambagroup.com, the company states its vision is “to build a scrap metal recycling network throughout the Midwest that generates high volumes of scrap metal and results in profitable growth for stakeholders.”