Scrap Prices North America
Detroit-area mill offers March scrap significantly lower
Written by Stephen Miller
March 7, 2024
A Detroit area steelmaker on Thursday morning announced significantly lower offers for March scrap shipments. The drop in its offer prices was larger than most industry observers had forecast, especially for shredded scrap.
Here are the prices being offered in the Detroit district:
- #1 Busheling: $410 per gross ton (gt), down $70/gt
- Shredded: $415/gt, down $50/gt
- P&S: $370/gt, down $40/gt
Many in the scrap community had predicted that prime scrap would drop $40-50 per gross ton (gt) with shredded only down $30-40/gt. But other market participants were skeptical about these predictions given bearishness in ferrous markets, both domestically and abroad.
Detroit area offers are important because they often set the pace for other areas, including Chicago – which in turn tends to set the pace for the rest of North American scrap settlements.
We reached out to an industry veteran in the Chicago district to get his views on whether these prices would be accepted by the trade. “At the very least, I think they will be close,” he said.
Stephen Miller
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