A strong sideways pricing trend is expected for the US scrap prices in September, while some regions may see a slight increase in prices.
There has not been a high frequency of scrap transactions in the US market in the past week, as scrap buyers are waiting to purchase scrap after the Labor Day holiday. After the mills' maintenance schedule and summer vacation holidays, domestic mills do not have abundant scrap inventories for the time being, therefore, it is expected that they will need to replenish soon. However, they are buying conservatively and only in amounts necessary for their immediate needs, and strongly avoiding overbuying. On the other hand, scrap supply, particularly shredded scrap, is tight and scrap flow is not as strong as it was earlier, putting some pressure on domestic scrap prices. In addition, the US export scrap market is stable and prices have remained relatively neutral, bolstering a steady trend for the domestic scrap prices as well.
Although some market sources see softness on the prime grade scrap, some do not expect domestic scrap prices to go down. And most industry insiders are anticipating domestic scrap prices will have a strong sideways pricing trend to up by as much as $10/lt ($9.84/mt) in September.
In the beginning of August, East Coast busheling scrap prices were in the level of $515 to $525/lt ($506.87 to $516.71/mt), shredded scrap prices were in the range of $450 to $460/lt ($442.89 to $452.74/mt), and HMS I prices were between $420 and $430/lt ($413.37 to $423.21/mt).
US Midwest busheling scrap prices were at $510 to $520/mt ($502 to $512/mt), shredded scrap prices at $440 to $450/mt ($433 to $443/mt) and HMS I prices at $415 to $425/mt ($408 to $418/mt).