Southern Metals Company

What Southern Metals Company does

Southern Metals Company (operating as Southern Metals Recycling) is a privately held, fourth-generation family-owned scrap metal recycler founded in 1952 and headquartered at 2923 US Highway 421 N in Wilmington, North Carolina. The company operates a single physical processing yard and a 60,000 square-foot warehouse housing its wholly owned Queensboro Metal Supply division, and serves a horizontal mix of homeowners, contractors, and commercial/industrial accounts across 11 counties in southeastern North Carolina (Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Robeson, and Sampson).

The service offering is built around three lines. First, scrap metal recycling accepts ferrous and non-ferrous metals — including steel, iron, aluminum, copper, brass, and stainless steel — as well as household appliances, vehicle batteries, and automotive components, with same-day weigh-and-pay processing. Second, container and off-site services deploy roll-off containers (8-38 feet), lugger containers, flatbed trailers, lowboy trailers, dump trailers, and specialty Landoll trailers to construction, demolition, and industrial job sites on scheduled or on-demand pickup, plus demolition-project coordination with trusted crews. Third, Queensboro Metal Supply retails new and surplus steel, aluminum, copper, brass, and stainless stock with custom cutting. Underlying technology is limited to standard physical processing (weighing, grading, sorting) with a basic online customer portal and SEO content; there are no proprietary AI, API, or software products.

The revenue model combines three streams: (i) market-rate scrap purchase-and-resell to downstream recyclers and manufacturers with daily commodity-linked pricing, (ii) contract-based container rental and pickup service fees for B2B accounts, and (iii) unit-priced metal sales (new and surplus, including discounted slightly-damaged inventory) with custom cutting. Go-to-market runs dual tracks: a direct-to-consumer drop-off motion at the Wilmington yard and an enterprise field-sales motion for the container and demolition-coordination businesses. The company has no disclosed funding, no external parent, and no M&A history; ownership and senior leadership remain concentrated in the Alper family (Jeremy Alper as President, Mark Alper as CFO/Treasurer, Kyla Alper as Marketing Director).

Name

Southern Metals Company

Legal name

Southern Metals Recycling Inc.

Website

https://southernmetals.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1952

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Southern Metals Company is a privately held, fourth-generation family-owned scrap metal recycler and container services provider founded in 1952 in Wilmington, NC, serving homeowners, contractors, and industrial clients across 11 southeastern North Carolina counties, and operating the Queensboro Metal Supply metal-sales division.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scrap Metal Recycling

NAICS

Materials Recovery Facilities (562920), Solid Waste Collection (562111), Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal (562211)

SIC

Wholesale-Metals & Minerals (No Petroleum) (5050)

akta.pro primary industry

Metals Recovery & Sorting Facilities (Ferrous/Non-Ferrous) (EUAIADAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Metals Recovery & Scrap Processing (from C&D) (BPALAJAF), Radiator, Cable & Wire Recycling (Copper/Aluminum Wire Chopping, Insulated Cable) (IMAKAMAJ), Scrap Metal & White Goods Aggregation Yards (EUAIABAH)

Keywords

• Scrap metal recycling
• Roll-off container services
• Metal materials supply
• Demolition metal recovery
• Ferrous non-ferrous metals

Headquarters

HQ city

Wilmington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Scrap Metal Purchase - Consumer: The company purchases scrap metal from individuals and businesses, paying competitive market rates for ferrous and non-ferrous metals including aluminum, copper, brass, stainless steel, and steel. Revenue is generated by processing and reselling collected materials to downstream recyclers and manufacturers.
2. Container and Off-Site Services: Roll-off container rental and pickup services for construction, demolition, and industrial projects. Provides containers ranging from 8 to 38 feet with scheduled or on-demand replacement. Revenue derived from service fees for container delivery, pickup, transportation, and potentially rental duration.
3. Queensboro Metal Supply - Metal Sales: Division selling new and surplus metals to the public including steel, aluminum, copper, brass, and stainless steel. Operates from a 60,000 square foot warehouse with custom-cutting services available. Sells both new and slightly damaged metal at discounted rates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Southern Metals Recycling purchases ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metals from homeowners and businesses at its Wilmington, NC facility, processes the materials, and resells them to downstream recyclers and manufacturers. The company also provides roll-off and trailer container services for construction, demolition, and industrial scrap collection, and operates the Queensboro Metal Supply division selling new and surplus metals with custom cutting. Services cover self-serve drop-off, scheduled or on-demand pickup, and demolition project coordination across 11 southeastern North Carolina counties.

Product overview

Southern Metals Company operates as a scrap metal recycling business with two primary divisions: Southern Metals Recycling provides core scrap metal recycling services including container/roll-off services, vehicle battery recycling, household appliance recycling, and car parts recycling, while Queensboro Metal Supply functions as a metal materials sales division offering new and surplus metals with custom-cutting capabilities. The company operates from a single facility in Wilmington, NC and serves southeastern North Carolina counties with both recycling pickup/drop-off services and metal sales.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Scrap Metal Recycling Core service accepting ferrous and non-ferrous metals including aluminum, copper, brass, stainless steel, steel, and iron for recycling. Customers drop materials at the Wilmington facility where the team weighs, sorts, and pays market-rate prices with same-day processing. Available to homeowners, contractors, and industrial clients across southeastern North Carolina.
• Container & Off-Site Services Roll-off and trailer container services for construction, demolition, and industrial projects. Includes roll-off containers (20-38 feet), lugger containers, flatbed trailers, lowboy trailers, and dump trailers delivered and picked up at customer job sites with scheduled or on-demand rotation.
• Queensboro Metal Supply Metal materials sales division selling new and surplus metals including steel, aluminum, copper, brass, and stainless steel from a 60,000-square-foot Wilmington warehouse. Custom-cutting services available, with surplus/slightly damaged metal offered at discounted rates and local delivery for large orders.
• Demolition Services Coordination Coordination service for scrap metal recovery during demolition and teardown projects. Connects customers with trusted demolition crews, plans safe and efficient metal removal, and pairs site clearing with the company's container and recycling capabilities.

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• SA Recycling: One of the largest US non-ferrous and ferrous scrap metal recyclers operating a network of facilities with container services and self-serve drop-off. Directly comparable in service mix (scrap purchasing, roll-off containers, demolition support) though at national scale rather than regional.
• Liberty Iron & Metal: Regional ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal processor with container services and self-serve drop-off. Operates with a similar integrated scrap-purchase plus container-service model targeting construction, demolition, and industrial clients.
• Trademark Metals Recycling: Regional scrap metal recycler with multiple yards accepting ferrous and non-ferrous metals, offering container services and competitive pricing to contractors and homeowners. Comparable in scale and customer segments to Southern Metals.
• Cohen Recycling: Mid-size regional scrap metal recycler offering ferrous and non-ferrous buying, roll-off container services, and metal supply to commercial, industrial, and residential customers. Closely mirrors Southern Metals' multi-line regional operating model.

Broad incumbents

• Radius Recycling (formerly Schnitzer Steel Industries): Large publicly traded scrap metal recycler and steel manufacturer with a national network of scrap yards, container services, and downstream metal processing. Overlaps with Southern Metals in ferrous/non-ferrous scrap purchasing and container logistics but at vastly larger scale.
• PSC Metals: One of the largest North American scrap metal recyclers with extensive yard coverage, ferrous and non-ferrous processing, and container services to industrial and demolition customers. Broader geographic reach than Southern Metals but directly competes on service mix.
• EMR Group (European Metal Recycling): Global metal recycler with US operations following the Metalico acquisition; operates scrap yards, container services, and downstream processing across North America. Comparable to Southern Metals on core scrap services but at international scale.
• Commercial Metals Company (CMC): Vertically integrated manufacturer and recycler of ferrous metals with significant scrap procurement operations and downstream steelmaking. Provides scale benchmarks for scrap pricing economics but is far broader than Southern Metals' regional recycling focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SouthernMetalsRecycling
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/southern-metals-recycling

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Southern Metals Company