Industry is seeing a trend in the number of new lifting scrap magnets being manufactured. There has been a reduction in the amount of weld and steel in many scrap handling lifting magnets. The case walls and outer poles have been thinned and accept less punishment than in the past. Some of this is due to the use of lighter-duty cranes, and the need to reduce the weight of the magnets and some is due to cost cutting and attempts at greater profitability. These trends have made many of these older lifting magnets less repairable than in the past. That being said, many of the magnets are so badly damaged, they are deemed uneconomical to repair and are replaced with new, rebuilt or used magnets.