**Welcome to A Scrap Life Podcast**

*Host: Brett Echart*

As you guys know, I don’t have a sponsor on this podcast, but today the game has changed. I have recently invested in a new technology that I believe can change the game for small and medium-sized scrap companies like us. Its name is Nikki, and it’s the last receptionist your scrapyard will ever need. I just got tired of our company missing opportunities that were coming across the phone lines at all of our yards. Calls that we were paying for through advertising. The problem was we were asking our scale operators to just do too much, but we couldn’t really justify the payroll to have one person just sitting there answering phone calls. Now, Nikki answers the calls, directs the important ones to our buyers, and answers the basic questions right now. More importantly, Nikki doesn’t let big opportunities slip through the cracks while our team is taking care of the scale traffic and our customers. And probably the most important feature is the daily data call log for follow-ups, tracking, and details of every single call. More details coming soon. Stay tuned.

**Introduction**

Welcome to A Scrap Life, a podcast solely focused on the hustlers, grinders, operators, and business owners who live and breathe the scrap metal industry every day. Here is your host, Brett Echart.

**Discussion with Aldo Jordan**

**Brett Echart:** All right, we took a month sabbatical. Not really because I know Aldo was working. He was doing his thing down in Vegas at Remma. We were just talking about that. I’m back with the trade. This time we’re talking about copper. And man, what a ride. What a ride it’s been on, and we took last month off. But I think everybody was busy, you know, trying to get some business done, get to Vegas, get that out of our way, and get back to the day-to-day grind. And summer’s going to be here and upon us. Man, if it’s hot outside and so is the copper market this morning at 6:30. So, who better to break it down than Aldo Jordan at the Metals Agency. Thanks for coming back, man. Appreciate you.

**Aldo Jordan:** You’re welcome, man. It was good to briefly see you in Vegas and say hello.

**Brett Echart:** Yeah. I had a guy that I’ve done a lot of business with over the years who sells equipment. And he called me the other day. He goes, “Hey, man. I know we should have got a… you know, we should have sat down and carved out some time to get a beer.” And I just said, “Hey, every time I ran into you, you were talking to somebody and you were busy.” And I said, “I hope that that translated into some business for you.” And he goes, “Oh, yeah. It was a great show.” And I said, “Well, then good.” I said, “We can get a beer anytime, but there’s only a window of time when you can sell equipment like that.” I said, “Go do your thing.” I said, “If you make some money, it’s going to make it a lot easier for us to get a beer, you know, down the road.” So, I’m hopeful that it was that way for you as well.

**Aldo Jordan:** Yeah. No, it was definitely very productive. It’s good to see new clients, prospective clients, and, you know, we’re expanding our footprint to South America with new business out of Chile and yeah, we have a lot of new projects in the pipeline that we’re very excited about.

**Brett Echart:** I love it, man. You guys are growing. What you’re building, it’s not easy. There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes, a lot of conversations, but a lot of excitement, right? That you’re in that phase where, hopefully, every dollar you put back into your business, maybe you get out, too, if you execute right. It’s fun to be in that phase when you’re growing and you’re trying new things and you’re opening new markets. It’s not easy, but it’s going to be worth it.

**Aldo Jordan:** Yeah. We’re very excited. We picked a good day for copper, man.

**Copper Market Insights**

**Brett Echart:** Yeah, dude. I only have you on up days. I was just telling you how ignorant I am sometimes, and why I would be probably a terrible trader for a living. Luckily, I can operate a scrapyard, but every time I think I got a good sale off, the market comes back to remind me that I’m not a good trader.

**Aldo Jordan:** There’s always the fear of missing out, but, you know, we can certainly swing in the other direction very easily.

**Brett Echart:** So, you sent me a note the other day, a client note, and I want to just briefly touch on it. You were talking about how the Comx warehouse is actually being resupplied. It’s in a scenario different from what it was. The warehouses have existing stock, and these moves in the market are interesting to say the least because it’s not demand-driven, right? It’s very trade-driven like we have discussed in the past. I’m super curious to your thoughts on this. Your insight?

**Aldo Jordan:** Three points of data on the warehouses alone. In January 2025, the level of ComX Cato in the warehouse was about 85,000 metric tons. By the end of that year, it was 430,000 metric tons. January 2026, we started with about 430,000 metric tons, and today we’re reaching about 600,000 metric tons. That’s roughly five times what we would usually need on a yearly basis in the US. So, the reason for that is we imported this cattle in anticipation of a higher tariff environment that didn’t materialize, but the growth continued. That should have sent spot Comx pricing down instead of up, but speculation is driving the market, and today we see such dynamics reflected.

**Financial Perspectives and Market Movements**

**Brett Echart:** That’s interesting that you mention financial speculation. With market correlations, such as the Comx and S&P 500 having almost equal numbers of up and down trading days, the moves seem to be detached from physical trading. If demand doesn’t trigger an increase in warehousing withdrawals, will it lead to a potential drop?

**Aldo Jordan:** Absolutely. If no demand pushes stock levels down, corrections could be sharp and significant. Paper trading has skewed physical pricing, and if that doesn’t change, those that have physical metal could face tough times when balances normalize.

**Strategic Trading Decisions**

**Brett Echart:** So, for the average guy in the scrap business, trying to figure out pricing strategies and not just buying into speculation?

**Aldo Jordan:** Strategic hedging and understanding current versus previous averages help. At 620 today, we’re nearly 10% above the average, indicating trading driven by speculation not demand. If the journey reverses, physical holders need to be prepared for the market correction.

**Brett Echart:** And establishing smart strategies, like spreading risk and relying on historical averages, can provide better positioning than just following daily market trends?

**Aldo Jordan:** Correct. Incorporating daily trading averages and distributed hedging can manage risk better, especially when market indications don’t reflect physical market realities.

**Final Thoughts**

**Brett Echart:** Thank you, Aldo, for sharing your insights. If someone wants to reach out for more, what is the best way?

**Aldo Jordan:** Email me at alo@themetsaggency.com or directly call me at 510-219-307. As a smaller company, we’re always approachable.

**Brett Echart:** Appreciate the details and strategic insights for those navigating this market. Reach out to Aldo for further questions and continue to monitor market dynamics as they evolve. Thank you for tuning in and supporting A Scrap Life podcast.