US domestic scrap prices settled up across the board for April buys, after an up $25/lt outlier purchase from a Youngstown mill turned a previously forecast down market on its head. At the beginning of the month, scrap prices in the Ohio Valley settled up between $10-$20/lt, to $370-$380/lt for HMS I/II, $410-$420/lt for shredded scrap and $430-$440/lt for busheling. A similar trend was seen in the Philadelphia area, where prices settled up approximately $10/lt, to $340-$350/lt for HMS I/II, $375-$385/lt for shredded and $390-$400/lt for busheling.
In terms of May, the general market consensus is that while prices could soften slightly, the correction is only likely to falter between $5-$10/lt in most regions. Prices within the Detroit and Chicago area, which did not firm as did on the East coast and Ohio Valley, are expected to trend at sideways.