Miller on scrap: Ferrous raw materials markets trending down for March

The March outlook for most ferrous products is trending down faster than most participants thought as recently as a week ago. Mill-owned domestic scrap brokers have been warning the dealer trade they will seek to take the prime grades down at least as much as $50 per gross ton (gt), with shredded and other obsolescent grades down $30/gt.

This would put busheling at $425-35/gt delivered to Great Lakes-area mills. If shredded scrap falls $30, that price should stabilize at $425-35/gt. It seems shredded has room to fall more than $30 since it went generally sideways in February. Reports are the flows of shredded feed improved last month.

Stephen Miller

Stephen Miller started his career in the scrap metal industry in 1978 at Luria Brothers in Cleveland. Over the last 40-plus years, he has worked in all capacities in the trading business. He has had positions in both domestic and international scrap trading. In addition to scrap, Miller was at the forefront of the pig iron trade and established a pig iron distribution company under the name of Ferrosource, Inc. Most recently, Miller has concentrated on the scrap export market and regularly does consulting for several companies in the industry.