Scrap Prices Expected to Rise $10-$20 in January

Scrap dealers are optimistic that ferrous scrap prices have bottomed in all regions of the country and will rise as we move into negotiations for the month of January. A rising scrap market is a harbinger of good things for the steel mills as they attempt to collect the increases already announced and perhaps add more once we move into January.

As trading subsided for the month of December, prices were strongest on the east coast due to exporters having orders and at least one domestic mill needing steel. We asked for an update on the market from one of our east coast sources who told us, “December saw the east as being stronger because one mill here in particular needed scrap, and the exporters were more active trying to secure material.  So we saw prices here rise $10-$20/GT for obsolete grades.”