Sources inform SteelOrbis that the US ferrous scrap market on the East coast has not settled fully and is waiting for some mills to enter dialogue early next week, but one source also warned the potential for settled prices not to be called until Wednesday “as a few mills in the area may take their time, especially, as they are returning from planned maintenance.”
A source in the East coast informed SteelOrbis that his completed scrap deals this week were lower by $10/gt ($10/mt) for shredded scrap and sideways for busheling scrap compared to April. He noted that in some cases he was able to increase busheling deals by $5-10/gt ($5-10/mt), especially, if on the lower side of the range in April. This would bring East coast busheling prices to $375-380/gt ($381-386/mt) delivered to customer, an increase of $5/gt ($5/mt) from the bottom of the April range. From other East coast sources, prices for shredded scrap are expected to settle down $10-15/gt ($10-15/mt), therefore, placing the range around $365-370/gt ($371-376/mt) delivered to customer.
A source in the Pennsylvania area informed SteelOrbis that his large firm had sold the desired scrap volumes for the month. He sold busheling sideways compared to April prices and cut grades (HMS I, P&S, and shredded) sold at down $10/gt ($10/mt). He stated, “Scrap offers were strong and mill business remains good.” The price erosion was attributed to lower exports and seasonal effect as the weather thaws. He added, “Also, the still strong scrap prices, compared to recent years, continue attracting feedstock into the yards.” In the Pennsylvania and Northern Ohio region, the outlook for May is $380-390/gt ($386-396/mt) delivered to customer for shredded scrap and $395-410/gt ($401-417/mt) delivered to customer for busheling scrap.
According to a source in Chicago, prices in that region are trending down $10-20/gt ($10-20/mt) on shredded and P&S grades while busheling scrap has also been able to remain sideways from April settled prices. A separate scrap contact in the region informed SteelOrbis that he was hearing some mills in the Midwest were placing counter-offers to purchase both cut grades and busheling at prices $20/gt ($20/mt), “but so far no takers.”
In the southern US region, which has encountered higher scrap prices for the past several months compared to the Ohio and Pennsylvania regions, prices in some deals have reportedly decreased $20-30/gt ($20-30/mt) on cut grades compared to April. A source in the East coast stated, “The south was flying high so they may feel the dip a little more pronounced this month as the ferrous market establishes a mild correction on seasonal supply increases along with soft exports.”