Numerous sources close to SteelOrbis have confirmed that the June scrap trade has gotten off to a slow start, adding that while a number of yards came out with up $50/gt numbers on Tuesday, many mills remained quiet.
Yesterday, that silence led some sellers to think that up $50/gt may not happen, and that up $30/gt may be where prices landed.
Today, however, sentiment has improved. Several sources have said that while prices have not settled yet, they believe that up $50/gt is likely.
“I’ve heard that a couple mills have come out quietly at up $50/gt across the board,” a Chicago-based source said.
Those rumors have since been confirmed. As of time of publication, at least one mill has come out at up $50/gt on cuts and shred. They are, however, offering at up $60/gt on primes.
“I don’t think we’ll have the final numbers for a couple more days, but I think we’ll see up $50/gt on cuts and shred and up $70/gt on primes,” an Ohio valley source noted prior the above-referenced pricing confirmation. “I also don’t think that this is the top of the market because there are a lot of yards that don’t have a lot of scrap. I think that people aren’t comfortable holding inventory on the ground because they still have nightmares from what happened in 2008.”
The dramatic drop in scrap prices in 2008, when busheling went from upward of $1,000/gt to roughly $130/gt in a matter of months, has been at the forefront of conversations for the past month.
As for when June settled prices will be available, half of those polled think prices will settle tomorrow whereas the remaining half believe the market will not settle until Monday. Sources believe that a possible reason for the delay is that a lot of scrap yards still owe on May orders.
A final source offered his view on the matter. “If they’re still owed tons from May, it would make sense that they’re not rushing out to buy for June until they have a clearer sense of where prices will settle.”