Mills enter June scrap market sharply lower on steel demand concerns

The suspense about the drop in ferrous scrap pricing for June has ended with Delta, Ohio-based North Star BlueScope entering the market at significantly lower numbers than most predicted.

1 Busheling: $375 per gross ton (gt), down $40/gt
Shredded: $375/gt down $20/gt
Plate & Structural: $340/gt down $30/gt

These prices are on the weaker side of various predictions, most of which pegged prices to be down $10/gt-$20/gt.

It seems the lack of demand due to outages and poor steel sales took a hit on prices.

The fact that shredded (with a 94% Fe yield) is trading at the same price as busheling (97% Fe yield) is a sign of weakness in the steelmaking sector, residual alloys notwithstanding.

Other buyers are likely to follow suit with further declines expected for prime grades. There is no evidence of dealer resistance as yet.

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.