Freight Investor Services (FIS) has added two brokers to its US Midwest presence to cover swaps contracts for US domestic Hot Rolled Coil, Iron Ore and Scrap from the St Louis, MO, area.

The brokers will specialize in meeting the domestic US steel industry’s growing demand for steel, scrap and iron ore derivatives, at a time of increased price volatility in raw materials and finished products.

The new brokers are Brad Clark and Andrew Poe, both of whom will focus on marketing and brokering the US HRC, Iron Ore and Scrap swaps contracts to US clients. Brad’s previous roles include derivatives trading at industry-leading commodity houses Trafigura Switzerland and ED&F Man in London. Fellow St Louisan Andrew Poe brings over 10 years of experience in the US commercial construction industry.

Brad Clark said:

“The price moves in the US steel market over the past six months have shown that the time is definitely right for steel swaps. We also see much potential in a US-focused scrap export contract along with a wider hedging tool like the iron ore swap which has become a major focus for traders and steelmakers over the past couple of years.”

FIS began coverage of the US Domestic HRC contract late last year and introduced a completely new swap contract for Turkish Scrap Imports. FIS was one of the first brokers to offer cleared iron ore swaps to mills, mines and traders in the Asian steelmaking complex.

The US Domestic HRC contract settles against the CRU US Midwest Domestic Hot-Rolled Coil Steel Index and can be cleared at CME. If you would like to read more on flat rolled steel prices and news from the steel market, then click the Free Trial link below or become a Steel Market Update member.