On the US East Coast, Turkish mills have continued to pressure ex-US scrap prices lower in the last couple weeks. Turkish scrap buyers have booked significant ex-Black Sea scrap recently, and continue to opt for European scrap whenever possible as the ongoing weakness of the euro is making European scrap prices more attractive. SteelOrbis has learned of a few ex-Europe scrap deals to Turkey made as low as about $400/mt CFR, significantly lower than ex-US scrap prices. Export scrap prices from the US East Coast to Turkey are currently in the range of $415-$425/mt CFR, down about $5-$10/mt in the last couple weeks. Even with the drop, however, scrap dealers are having a hard time competing with export prices from Europe.
Conversely, the export scrap market from the US West Coast to Taiwan has firmed after reaching a perceived bottom a couple weeks ago. Ex-West Coast container scrap prices to Taiwan are now in the range of $405-$410/mt CFR, compared to $395-$405/mt CFR two weeks ago. A decent amount of cargoes have been sent to the Far East so far in November, but nothing too substantial as finished steel demand in the Far East remains depressed.
As for the US domestic market, the extreme pessimism for the December price trend has diminished for shredded and HMS I prices because the freefall in export prices has mostly subsided. Nonetheless, long steel demand in the US is weak and may still drag shredded and HMS I prices down next month. As for busheling, an abundance of low-cost pig iron has recently entered the US market that some mini-mills are using in place of scrap when possible--a factor that will likely have a negative effect on domestic busheling prices in December as well.