Additional regions settle down in US domestic scrap buy cycle

For the week ended April 7, SteelOrbis previously reported US domestic scrap prices declining $26-36/mt in the East Coast. Additional regions have now settled, and sources say that while the downward trend continued as expected, the decline was primarily influenced by export scrap pricing that began to decline in mid-March, but rebounded as the buy cycle began and continued buoying prices through the week.

According to sources, the domestic scrap market continues to be tight, as evidenced by strong order books across all grades. However, the lower priced shredded scrap made available by exporters to the domestic market placed pressure on domestic prices. While initially mills expected shredded prices to move down in line with the $30/mt savings offered by the exporters, dealers accepted only a $25/mt decrease for the most part as a $30/mt decline would have made it difficult for local and regional shredders to buy feedstock. A source in Ohio noted that a few dealers are reportedly resisting the settled prices and are pushing for numbers to move up prior to committing inventory for late April deliveries.

Sources reported that prime scrap demand remained strong through this month’s buy cycle and the same price levels are expected through April into May.
 

Note: mt variance noted in relation to change from previous range. The top number denotes the change from the bottom of the previous range and the bottom number denotes the change from the top of the previous range.