After three months of consecutive declines from April to June that cumulatively decreased scrap prices $90-100/gt ($91-102/mt), July was expected to trend down again. Some feared the possibility of mills to aggressively seek additional discounts of $20-30/gt ($20-30/mt), In the end, July traded soft in some regions while sideways in others. Overall the decline of $5-10/gt ($5-10/mt) depending on region and grade was better than feared in late June by some scrap sellers in the industry.
According to a survey performed by SteelOrbis today, scrap sellers are expecting a shift in direction in August. Sources inform SteelOrbis that tighter scrap supplies as a result of lower buying prices for feedstock along with an expected stronger volume demand in August could result in scrap prices gaining $10-20/gt compared to July settled prices.
A source in Chicago reported expectations of strong sideways while a source in the Pittsburgh region reported expectations of up $10-20/gt ($10-20/mt). A Midwest dealer reported expectations of sideways to a rebound of $10/gt ($10/mt) on scrap prices for August. Export scrap prices to Turkey are expected to remain relatively stable into August according to an East coast export scrap trader. On the West coast, demand by emerging markets is expected to continue strong and even improve in the next few months, thereby, supporting export scrap prices in the region.