RMU: Ferrous scrap prices poised for August gains

It’s buy week again for ferrous scrap. US steelmakers are expected to offer their prices for August shipment this week. Most of the dealers and brokers RMU has quizzed believe the market has enough traction to hold sideways and even go up. Prime scrap seems to be the most likely to gain in August as it was a bit short last month when some mills attempted to buy down from June and met resistance. They eventually had to raise their prices.

On the obsolescent side, many think shredded and P&S can also achieve a raise. However, when RMU contacted several large companies with multiple shredders, they indicated their inbound flow of shredder feed had not decreased to any appreciable extent. This may be able to limit the market on shredded to sideways from July. So, at this point, it is a toss-up.