According to sources close to SteelOrbis, while the March buy-cycle is still continuing and will likely settle by early next week due to “price to be determined” deals and late entrants to the market, transactions completed have already moved spot prices up. While expectations were for prices in March to move up back to January levels, the prices are currently at or above the January pricing ranges. Busheling, though, has taken a big leap from February settled prices due to strong demand and tight supply. Throughout February, SteelOrbis noted the price of busheling moving up due to the temporary shutdown of the Nucor DRI plant, tight pig iron supplies, and increasing domestic demand.
Sources have informed SteelOrbis that scrap prices on the East coast are presently as follows: busheling scrap at $345-356/mt ($340-350/gt), HMS I scrap at $279/mt ($275/gt), P&S scrap at $290/mt ($285/gt), and shredded scrap at $315-320/mt ($310-315/gt), all prices delivered to customer within region.
For the East coast, February settled prices were as follows: busheling scrap at $280-300/mt ($275-295/gt), HMS I scrap at $234-241/mt ($230-237/gt), P&S scrap at $249-254/mt ($245-250/gt), and shredded scrap at $269-274/mt ($265-270/gt), all prices delivered to customer.