April scrap prices on the US East coast, which settled at $218/mt ($215/gt) for HMS, $254-$264/mt ($250-$260/gt) for shredded scrap and $229/mt ($225/gt) for P&S scrap could see additional firming during the May buy-cycle due to strong demand within both the domestic and export scrap markets.
April East coast scrap prices trended up higher than expected due to upticks in sales of export scrap cargos to Turkish steelmakers; this, combined with current pending trade cases on imports of hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil, and hot dipped galvanized coil, helped firm domestic consumption levels.
Sources close to SteelOrbis have pointed out that while some believe that US domestic scrap prices in the Midwest and possibly the Ohio Valley could trend neutral to slightly down, sources on the US East coast are slightly more optimistic.
Although some sources within this region feel that US East coast scrap prices will also trend neutral during the May buy cycle, others feel there is still room for additional price firming.
“There is a very strong argument to be made for an uptrend in prices come April. The big question is by how much,” one source said. “The recently filed trade case against plate imports certainly isn’t going to hurt things. When you mix this with current strength in the export market it’s not hard to make the argument that US East coast prices could easily trend up again in May. Is up $50/gt achievable? Probably not. But it’s easy to make the argument that prices could settle up $10/gt.”