At the close of February, shredded
scrap prices in the Ohio Valley, Pittsburgh/Cleveland area settled down approximately $21/lt from levels seen in late January, and many speculate prices have not yet reached their bottom. By the end of the month, shredded
scrap prices were seen at approximately $405/lt, while busheling was being sold at about $421/lt. The biggest outlier, according to brokers, is that there are a lot of open orders out of Philadelphia, Chicago and other regions that have not yet been fulfilled; and although current speculation puts March buys down anywhere from $10-$20/lt, those open orders could keep price faltering at the smaller end of that range.
Meanwhile, prices in the Philadelphia area have, for the most part, held steady in the past two weeks at $355-$365/lt for HMS I/II, $370-$375/lt for shredded and $390-$395/lt for busheling. East coast
scrap dealers continue to report that export yards are flooding the domestic market with shredded
scrap, and that
scrap flow continues to be hampered by winter weather conditions.