Although the September buy cycle has not concluded, sources close to SteelOrbis have confirm that mills in the Ohio Valley and Detroit have come out with September pricing. As of the time of publication, at least two mills have come out at down $50/gt on busheling and down $25/gt on cuts and shred.
“We’re not surprised by that,” a source said. “We know that toward the end of August, some mills were testing at down $80/gt to see if they’d be able to get anyone to bite. The fact that it looks like this region will be down $50/gt on primes isn’t surprising.”
In the Northeast, however, the start of this month’s scrap trade has been delayed due to severe weather brought on by Hurricane Ida. New York, Philadelphia, and other parts of the tri-state area have been hit with historic flooding, which has triggered state-wide emergencies and the first-ever Flash Flood Emergency in New York City and Northeast New Jersey.
Sources have also confirmed that multiple tornadoes ripped through parts of Philadelphia overnight, destroying buildings, homes, and knocking down power lines in their wake. “We don’t see anything happening over this way today,” a source commented. “But I do think we’ll see down $25-$30/gt on cuts and shred, and maybe down $10/gt on busheling, just because busheling scrap prices were a lot lower over here last month than they were in other parts of the country.”
Looking to the South, it’s currently believed that prices may not settle until after the Labor Day holiday due to “what mills view as additional weakness in the market.” Consequently, some suspect that prices in the Southeast could be down by margins larger than what’s currently being seen in the Ohio Valley and Detroit.
Ohio Valley settled prices are expected to emerge by the end of Thursday or on early Friday. Settled prices in the South and Northeast, however, may not be available until early next week.