US domestic and export scrap prices climb in November after months of declines

November scrap prices in the US recovered almost fully from their October lows and could be poised to continue the uptrend. US domestic mills pushed down scrap prices to extreme lows during early October buys, and sources tell SteelOrbis that the October price drop of $45-$60/lt damaged supply lines by reducing scrap flow substantially. Additionally, a number of mills took various maintenance outages in October and therefore had reduced scrap needs. But after October scrap prices plummeted, some scrap dealers began holding back scrap in anticipation of higher winter prices--compounded by reduced flow and increased demand, US domestic scrap prices jumped more than early expectations predicted in November.

Additionally, ex-US scrap prices from the East Coast to Turkey are also on the rise and Turkish mills have been looking to secure scrap from the US ahead of major winter weather delays-although some scrap export cargos off the US East Coast are being delayed one to two weeks following Hurricane Sandy and then a snowstorm in New York. US export scrap offers for shredded scrap to Turkey are now around $420/mt CFR for HMS I/II, up from lows of about $365/mt CFR in mid-October. India has also been extremely active in purchasing scrap from the US. The most recent ex-US East Coast scrap prices to India were approximately $370-$375/mt FAS for shredded scrap and $365-$370/mt FAS for HMS I/II. As export prices are expected to remain firm in the immediate future, US domestic scrap prices will likely continue to rise after increasing $45-$60/lt in the Midwest and East Coast in early November.

US domestic scrap prices were as follows in early November: