A new years night fire at the BlueScope Recycling and Materials facility in Mansfield, Ohio, could potentially cause January scrap price to rise, as market participants continue to report that local scrap inventories remain low, scrap market insiders told SteelOrbis this week.
Local reports indicate the late night fire, which occurred in a building used to sort shredded vehicles and other metals, caused about $20 million in damages. While no one was working in the building at the time of the fire, one firefighter sustained minor injuries though was later released from a local hospital, reports say.
BlueScope Recycling is a major player in the US Midwest scrap market, often quoted in monthly discussions about scrap market pricing. The 40-acre facility is close to nine major US steel mills.
“While its regrettable, the BlueScope fire could cause January scrap prices to rise,” said one Midwest scrap market insider. “Plus, we’ve got snow coming inbound across the Midwest, which could further stretch already tight scrap supplies.”
“While the markets remain very quiet following the holidays, scrap in-flows into the yards remain low,” said another Midwest scrap insider. “Right now the call is looking sideways.”
This week, January scrap pricing has been discussed by market insiders at sideways to December values, off a bit from a week earlier following the Christmas holiday, when the scrap call was sideways to potentially higher, as better demand was forecast from mills during January than was seen during the month of December.