A worldwide slowdown of manufacturing has lowered steel prices so much, the River Valley Recycling location on Route 24, west of Watseka, closed temporarily Monday.

The shut down is until at least the end of March.
A sharp drop of recyclable steel, aluminum cans and copper coming into the facility has slowed business considerably.

River Valley recycling owner Kyle Bruno said everyone dealing with recyclables has been hurt.

Bruno said the company's location at 550 N. Hobbie Ave., Kankakee, remains open for business from 8 am 'til $;30 pm Monday thru Friday and Saturdays 8 am. to 12:30 pm.

The plunging price of steel is "something we have to get through," says Greg Baise, president of the Illinois Manufacturers Association.

Baise said this slowdown began to grab hold in late 2014 to early 2015. Since then, Illinois-based manufacturing heavyweights Caterpillar, John Deere and Granite City Steel have cut workforces.

The price for scrap steel has plunged by four times and in December stood at $35 per ton. Aluminum cans have fallen about half and now are at 40 cents per pound. Copper has dropped by about 70 cents per pound.

94.1 WGFA