Sources close to SteelOrbis have confirmed that US domestic scrap prices have settled at down $20/gt for cut grades and shredded scrap, and at sideways for prime grades (busheling scrap).
“All in all, it’s been uneventful,” a source said. “The mills are buying at down $20 on cuts and shred, everyone has their tons in place, and there’s an understanding that we’ll pay down $20 to our suppliers.”
Another source notes that down $20/gt pricing, in the current market, “isn’t really a big deal.”
“When you look at where prices are, up or down $20/gt in the market isn’t that big of a deal,” he said. “There also seems to be an agreement that while prices are down this month, they’ll likely come up again next month.”
The reasons for a possible uptrend in May include capacity expansion plans at domestic mills and a possible uptick in export demand from Turkey. At current, SteelOrbis is predicting that Turkish mills will need to book upward of 20 more cargoes during the month of April, some of which will be booked from US suppliers.
This month’s settled scrap prices are listed in the charts below.
Northeast | April | March | Change |
Delivered to customer | |||
HMS I | $391/mt | $412/mt | down $21/mt |
$385/gt | $405/gt | down $20/gt | |
Shredded | $437/mt | $457/mt | down $20/mt |
$430/gt | $450/gt | down $20/gt | |
P&S | $401/mt | $422/mt | down $21/gt |
$395/gt | $415/gt | down $20/gt | |
Busheling | $498/mt | $498/mt | sideways |
$490/gt +/- | $490/gt +/- | sideways |
Ohio/Western Pennsylvania | April | March | Change |
Delivered to customer | |||
HMS I | $401-$406/mt | $422-$427/mt | down $21/mt |
$395-$400/gt | $415-$420/gt | down $20/gt | |
Shredded | $437-$442/mt | $457-$462/mt | down $20/mt |
$430-$435/gt | $450-$455/gt | down $20/gt | |
Busheling | $579 +/- mt | $579 +/- mt | sideways |
$570 +/- gt | $570 +/- gt | sideways | |
P&S | $417-$427/mt | $437-$447/mt | down $20/mt |
$410-$420/gt | $430-$440/gt | down $20/gt |