East Coast bulk cargos of HMS I/II and shredded scrap firmed starkly in the beginning of the month, as demand both domestically and abroad has started to outpace supply. As of early November, prices for both had settled up by about $25/mt, putting the current range for HMS I/II at $400/mt and shredded at $405/mt. Turkish mills, however, have seen a greater scrap flow out of Europe and Russia and are pushing back, feeling that
US suppliers are trending high with their quotes. At the same time, increased domestic consumption compounded by a weakened winter months scrap flow has
US suppliers holding prices firm. Ultimately, if Turkish inventories begin to slim, they may be left with no other choice but to pay
US prices. For now, with the current supply and demand dynamic taken into consideration, the December export forecast will hold at neutral, if not slightly up.
Meanwhile,
US West Coast scrap exporters are reporting a bit of softening when it comes to sales prices to Asian mills. Containers of heavy melting scrap I/II (80:20 blend) to
Taiwan have softened by about $5/mt on the top end, with the new range at $353-$355/mt. Taiwanese mills’ attempts to get certain long product prices up have not been successful, and although southeast Asian scrap dealers were hopeful they would not need to “blink first,” price concessions have been made. In terms of
Korea, containers of heavy melting scrap I/II (80:20 blend) are now being sold to that country for approximately $343/mt. Sources say they do not see any Southeast Asian mills making stock buys before the end of the year, and are expected only to buy what they need to hit target production levels.