Analysis
January 13, 2026
US ferrous scrap prices rise across board in January
Written by Ethan Bernard
Ferrous scrap prices jumped on all the products SMU tracks in January, scrap sources said.
“We saw a strong market in January with healthy scrap demand, mainly driven by mills’ need to restock scrap inventories, along with a firm export market,” one scrap source told SMU.
SMU’s January scrap pricing stands at:
- Busheling at $410-$435 per gross ton (gt), averaging $422.50/gt, up $22.50 from December.
- Shredded at $410-$430/gt, averaging $420/gt, a $30 jump from the previous month.
- HMS at $365-$385/gt, averaging $375/gt, up $25 vs. December.
“US shred prices are now at a $20-25 premium to Turkish prices for the first time in a while, so that is likely enough to keep US exporters moving a considerable amount of their shred inventory into the domestic market,” the first source continued.
He said that beyond scrap inventory restocking, the market did not see much higher scrap demand from US mills.
“But limited steel imports should create a solid foundation for US steel production rates to not fall below current levels,” the source added.
He noted the potential for capacity utilization to rise close to last year’s highs in the upper 70% levels in the coming months.
Outlook
Looking ahead, a second source said the feeling is the market will take another month to fill pipelines. After that, a drop-off risk exists if “we do not see better finished steel demand.”
A third source said the outlook for February is unclear at this point.
“Prices for January did not meet the expectations of several large scrap firms,” the third source continued. “However, if scrap flows do not decrease materially in January, the market can probably trade sideways next month.”
On the other hand, he noted, if flows decrease, the market could strengthen.
