Futures
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Iron Ore & Scrap Futures
Written by Bradley Clark
September 19, 2013
TSI Iron Ore: Prices Wobble in Signs Market is Cooling…
Iron ore prices have softened over the past couple of weeks, but are still holding the recent range above $130 per ton. Mixed news out of China regarding steel demand has cooled off buying for the time being as the market has failed to break through the recent ceiling on prices. The forward curve remains significantly backwardated with Q4 trading at $128, Q1 126 and cal 14 at $117, indicating that general market sentiment is that the question is when rather than if prices will retreat.
Volumes on SGX remain very strong.
U.S. Midwest #1 Busheling Ferrous Scrap (AMM) Mid-Month Stagnation
There is very little to say about the busheling futures market as no trades have been reported and very few prices if any have been seen in the market. As has been the case over the past years, the middle of the month tends to be the quietest as the flow of information from the physical market is anemic. The initial sentiment is for prices on busheling to soften around $10 per ton in October unless a surge in demand from Turkey sucks up exports tons or domestic mills increase their purchases ahead of an expectation for an end of the year surge in production.
Again, there have been no reported trades this past week.
Bradley Clark
Read more from Bradley ClarkLatest in Futures
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HR futures: Shifting risk profiles, emerging opportunities
Summer is here, and a familiar sentiment has hit the hot-rolled coil (HRC) futures market. Prices continue to decline in both the spot market and the futures market, with expectations of sub-$800 prices for the remainder of the year.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HRC-Futures.png)
HR futures complex slips from June
The CME steel futures complex saw a slight decrease in activity from levels seen at the end of June. This has coincided with a notable decline in flat prices for the nearby futures contract, now August HRC, which is lower by $81 per short ton (st) since last writing on June 13. It settled at $672/st on July 17.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HRC-Futures.png)
HR futures: Bottom to prices?
A month ago, when we last presented this column, there was a surprising amount of optimism in the presumably imminent reversal of the downtrend in hot-rolled steel prices in the second half of this year.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HRC-Futures.png)
HR futures: ‘Gimme Shelter’
This chart of the rolling second-month CME hot-rolled coil (HRC) future dating back to the start of 2022 has been as volatile as a herd of “Wild Horses.”
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/HRC-Futures.png)
HR futures: Market changes gears
For the first time in weeks, activity in the futures market broke out of the recent “front grinds lower” pattern to provide new insight into the dynamics of the steel industry.