Steel Products Prices North America

Ferrous Scrap Exports Fall Below 1M Net Tons in January
Written by Ryan Packard
March 20, 2014
Ferrous scrap exports totaled 898,156 metric tons (990,046 net tons or NT) for the month of January, a 42.7 percent decrease in exports from December 2013. This is a 41.4 percent decrease over the same month last year when tonnage was 1,689,288 NT.
Global exports haven’t been this low since January of 2006 when they were at 917,650 NT. Exports overall have been down due to the global steel market slow down and a devaluation of foreign currency against the US dollar. In the Middle East, Turkey exports decreased 69.7 percent and Egypt decreased 59.4 percent from December to January. In the Asian markets, Indonesia saw the largest decrease in tonnage for January exporting only 7,879 from their 18,488 net tons in December, a 57 percent decrease in tonnage; this may be a direct result from the raw mineral export ban that went into effect early in January.
SMU Note: You can view the interactive graphic below when you are logged into the website and reading the newsletter online. If you have not logged into the website in the past and need a new user name and password we can do that for you out of our office. Contact us at: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by calling 800-432-3475. If you need help navigating the website we would also be very happy to assist you.
{amchart id=”106″ Ferrous Scrap Exports – Total and Top 10 Countries}
Ryan Packard
Read more from Ryan PackardLatest in Steel Products Prices North America

Thin demand keeps plate prices hovering at lowest levels since February
Participants in the domestic plate market say spot prices appear to have hit the floor, and they continue to linger there. They say demand for steel remains thin, with plate products no exception.

SMU Price Ranges: HR crawls back to $800/ton
SMU’s HR price stands at $800/st on average, up $5/st from last week. The modest gain came as the low end of our range firmed, and despite the high end of our range declining slightly.

SMU successfully completes IOSCO review
SMU has successfully completed an external review of all our prices. The review has concluded that they algin with principles set by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

Domestic plate prices could heat up despite so-so demand, market sources say
Some sources also speculated that plate could see further price increases thanks to modest but steady demand, lower imports, mill maintenance outages, and end markets less immediately affected by tariff-related disruptions.

SMU Price Ranges: HR holds, galv slips amid competing market narratives
SMU’s sheet and plate prices see-sawed this week as hot-rolled (HR) coil prices held their ground while prices for galvanized product slipped.