US scrap prices increase in February, sources say

• Busheling at $450-$470 per gross ton (gt), averaging $460/gt, up $37.50 from January.
• Shredded at $440-$455/gt, averaging $447.50/gt, a $27.50 increase from the prior month.
• HMS at $390-$410/gt, averaging $400/gt, up $25 compared with January.

“Domestic prices are now at a significant premium to export prices, which likely portends a fall in prices in either or both March and April,” a scrap source said. 

“Scrap flows into our yards still stink, though they are better today than they were in early-February when the weather in much of the northern part of the US was much colder,” he added. 

He noted mill demand is still very solid, “but mills know that better scrap flows are coming next month or certainly in the spring.” 

A second source said his feeling on March is bearish.

“The only reason the scrap market is so high is weather,” he said. “It’s 70 degrees in St. Louis and no ice on the Mississippi.”

He sees many dealers trying to increase sales and being denied by mills.

“I expect mills to cancel March contracts and try to buy at less,” he added.