The River Valley Recycling location at Watseka shut down Monday — at least until March 31 — because of the sharp drop of recyclable steel, aluminum cans and copper coming into the facility.

"If I knew then what I know now, I should have done it July 1," owner Kyle Bruno said.

Bruno's situation is just one example of what is taking place not only in northeastern Illinois, but the United States and the world.

The worldwide slowdown of manufacturing is the chief reason for the plunging price, said Greg Baise, president of the Illinois Manufacturers Association.

"It's a cycle that we will have to get through. But I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "This is nothing surprising or unique. It's worldwide."

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.

"There is a level of nervousness about the worldwide economy. When does it turnaround?" he asked. "I can't even hazard a guess."

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.

Kevin Kennell, vice president for Belson Steel Center at Bradley, said there is no question scrap steel is not finding its way to Belson's plant and the falling prices is the reason.

"It's the perfect storm. There is the weak European economy. China's economy is contracting and they use more steel than they produce normally. But now they are exporting it and doing so below production cost," Kennell said.

To top it off, U.S. manufacturing is down as well, he noted.

"The U.S. economy was at near capacity two years ago. Now, steel production has been cut back. ... Things are not going great in the manufacture sector. Government employment is the only sector of the economy growing. It's been a prolonged period of low demand."

Concerning River Valley Recycling, Bruno said the company's location at 550 N. Hobbie Ave., Kankakee, remains open for business from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

Steel: $165/ton, December 2014; $35/ton, December 2015

Aluminum cans: 70 cents/pound, December 2014; 40 cents/pound, December 2015

Copper: $2.43/pound, December 2014; $1.75/pound, December 2015

Source: River Valley Recycling