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    November 1, 2024

    November ferrous scrap market slows with export pullback

    Written by Stephen Miller

    The ferrous scrap market for November is starting to look more like the several preceding months. At the outset there was optimism. In most districts, prices rose, but not dramatically. In the Chicago and Detroit districts, prices remained sideways. The Turkish mills came back into the deep sea export market and bumped up prices. However, things started to unravel.

    The Turkish mills pulled out as fast as they came back. Their absence sent European cargo tags down over $20 per metric ton (mt) and the US has reluctantly followed with similar drops. Obsolescent scrap flows in the US have not faltered significantly and have actually picked up in some areas. This has led some to believe shredded prices will remain flat for November. Industrial grades have been seen as decreasing in general, and probably will not have a chance to recover until early next year, US election outcome notwithstanding.

    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.

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