Re:CHINESE INVADE USA - PAY $200.00 PER TON for SCRAP STEEL - (long)

["Eddie Stakes" <eddiestakes@xxxx>]

This has nothing to do with Texans, nor Bush. Nor Southerners. It has to do
with the oil producing countries that supply oil to the US. And the demand
by those who insist on low fuel economy, bigger and bigger vehicles, and
lack of conservation. The Saudis, Venezueleans, Nigerians and other OPEC
countries can, and will, charge what they want, manipulating the price as
they see fit. Fuel has hit $2.50 on the west Coast but milk is $5 a gallon
there and the costs of living are some of the highest in the nation due to
many restrictive legislation. Milk here is $2 a gallon and gas is still
$1.50 a gallon. You could SAVE a hell of a lot of energy if you didn't have
anal legislation sometimes like in California that restricts one hanging
their clothes out to dry, as opposed to running it in the dryer for a hour.

This legislation is all over the US, not just in California. Hundreds of
junkyards and smaller salvage yards have been put out of business all over
the US by misguided legislators and politicians. There is/was a huge
junkyard her in Houston for instance named Houston Auto Storage & Salvage,
and had 40 acres of cars near Hobby Airport. Nothing around it for miles,
and no restrictions, of course I hope ya'll know Houston is the only major
city int he US with no zoning. So some developer decides to build a
subdivision of those Spongbob Squarebutt houses a mile down. Then then sub
gets bigger and bigger until it is only 1/4 miles from the salvage yard and
people start complaining that 'there is a eyesore over there' so more crap
laws are passed and you won't believe it but one of them is that all salvage
cars must be one foot off the ground to keep rats out. Listen here, our
Texas sized rats can jump like Carl Lewis. Another was the place had to be
fully fenced, and have a 'retention pond' for runoff. In other words, they
were determined to keep passing laws to put this law abiding business out of
busies after 50 years. Why? The land had suddenly becoem worth more than the
contents on it. So he would have to crushe everything, or get sued out of
businees, or the county could claim eminent domain and SEIZE the property.
Again, please check the restrictions and legislations in your town, city,
county, state before blaming Southerners, or Texans, or Bush. do the
homework, it is easier to point fingers and make claims than back it up with
proof.

There is a article about junkyards in the new AMO I wrote about months ago.
Same deal, put out of business by the City of Houston.
This has been happening since the 1980s and is nothing new, and it has been
happening all over the US. A big junkyard in New Mexico is battling to stay
alive right now and has over 100 AMCs and Ramblers in it, Mike Calkin's Auto
Salvage 505-443-3400 for info. City Wrecking in Waco crushed 15,000 old
cars, and many of them were a hell of a lot more desirable than anything
AMC, years ago. Pace Car Camaros, GTO's, you name it, they had it. AMC?
Several SC/Ramblers, 3 Machines, over a dozen AMXs and Javelins and over 3
dozen Grem/Horn/Conc Series vehicles, even two AMC convertibles. Why?
Because it is all supply and demand. When was the last time any one here was
in Kenosha, WI, where these cars were built? There is a old timey salvage
yard called Sturdevant's on the highway near the lake. Used to be in the
80s/mid 90s you could go there and see rows of aMCs in salvage, of which
they would hold onto them for a long time. Last time I was up there, not
even a Eagle. Why? I was told no one buys anything off them and they need
the space for stuff that moves. Think about that, a Kenosha area junkyard
that won't 'hold' a AMC.

City Wrecking and I guess now Sturdevant's scrapped all them old cars and
now stock nothing but newer iron like Surburbans, SUVees, imports. You can
sell a hood and fender off one a lot quicker and the profit is higher as
opposed to selling a fender off a old car or one or two parts per year off
it. We may not like it but it is a business.

Same with the Chinese. They are building the largest man made project in
their history, which goes back CENTURIES, the Three Gorges Dam:
http://www.chinaonline.com/refer/ministry_profiles/threegorgesdam.asp

It is extremely ironic and sad I guess that a old car scrap weight is $46 a
ton still in many Houston area scrap recyclers. Yes, they might turn around
and sell it for $200 a ton to China, but again, it is supply and demand.
Read my article in AMo about how no one wanted the 70 Big Bad Blue Hornet;
the 65-66 Classic convertible, the Spirit SX/4 SCCA racecar, the 69
Ambassador 390V8 Police car to name a few that were crushed here in Houston
at the pick a parts yards www.houstonpickapart.com
....because.....no....one.....wanted....them.....so the owners took the $46
a ton scrap price.

I recently sold after 5 months a 79 Concord DL 4door for $300 and it ran,
almost hauled it to scrap because no one wanted this 80,000 mile car. One
day yes, we will find our selves without a crapload of parts needed for not
only restoration, but also everyday things like front suspension, brakes,
due to you guessed it....
supply and demand.

And I may add that American Motors had a Car crushing Program in 1962-64. I
wrote about it several years ago in NAMDRA, aMCRC, and AMO to name a few
places it appeared in. Yes, AMC "sanctioned crushing trade ins" Why? To sell
more new cars. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies in thi shobby even
though old car people are the original recyclers well before it was 'cool'
and fashionable to do so.

It is also extremely ironic that our steel production in the US went into
the crapper in the 1980s and has never recovered, even with all the
tarriffs, threats and laws passed to prop it up since then. Why pay a union
fellow $21 a hour when you can have some goofball out of the US do same job
for 1/3rd the pay and no benefits? I hope the lessons of AMC starting in
1977 with the strike are not forgotten. The Matador sales were non existent.
There was such a glut of Gremlins and Hornets that the public didn't want
AMC had to close for weeks at a time in a very critical time. Supply and
demand again folks! So AMC started searching for new engines liek the Audi
and Pontiac 4s, and then in 78 would begin negotiations with everyone's
whipping boys, the French, owners of Renault.

I don't think that China is emerging as anything. They have always been
there. Maybe they are waking for a winter nap perhaps. And you can't fault
any of our automakers for rushing in to a emerging "market" like China,
remember, AMC built Jeeps in Bejing in the 1970s. And in Tehran, Iran and
Cairo Egypt too.

China is buying "junk" iron that US businesses will not pay $200 a ton for.
It's called capitalism. In a communist country. If I had a choice to sell a
junk car for $46 or $200 guess who I would sell to? Again, supply and
demand. Ok, and money.

And for AMCs in salvage, there is nothing in there anymore. There used to be
rows of rows of AMC vehicles at the area pick a parts, and in the past 5
years the well ran dry. But that is everywhere, get used to it. Some people
get tired of a old car sitting in their driveway (not only AMC, but
anything) and have it hauled away because they don't want to run a ad and
heve all sorts or freaks coming to their property, or don't want the hassle,
or don't care, nor think the car may be worth anything. You go to ANY pick a
part in Houston and look at the sheer amount of 1990-up 'new' cars in there.
It is so many they had to cordon off 1/2 the yard for them, BMW, Nissan,
Toyota, Saturn, you name it.

So the Chinese are going to buy what they want, and if they are willing to
pay more than the 'going rate' for the stuff, good for them, maybe some jobs
will come out of it here in the US. Hopefully the US businesses are raking
in the $$ doing so. Who is to say tomorrow the steel or metal market won't
be Martha Stewart stocks or stocks in Enron or WorldCom! Whether it is a
junkyard in Minnesota or a ranch here in Texas or a apartment in Flrida, it
is all driven by supply and demand. And yes, with each passing day, more and
more cars and parts for our cars become extinct, whether it is because
apathy, or supply and demand or a dam in China being built. And again,
please check your locales for all sorts of legislation in the boosk you may
or may not know is there, whether it is working on a old car in driveway, or
no tags on a racecar, or lean to garage on the side of house, or parking on
the street over 24 hours, there are a lot of laws, and many of them suck,
but there is no need to blame Southerners (there are mobile car crushers in
every state in the US), or Texans (I am a lifelong Texan, 44, 45 years come
March 26th, and don't know anyone who owns a oil well or
manipulates/controls prices of energy) nor Bush, who wouldn't piss off a
state that a Republican holds 90% of all the offices, and were put there by
the voting public for a reason. We can put them in, and we can take them
out!
Eddie Stakes'
Planet Houston AMX
www.planethoustonamx.com