May scrap mart limps towards settle, prime tags mixed

The May scrap market took much longer to settle than most players anticipated, but the results are mostly in. As it turned out, the prime grades were the only significant point of debate and those prices ended up mixed.

Nationally, busheling prices varied from sideways to +$20 per gross ton (gt). Regarding obsolescent grades, shredded prices held at the same levels as last month. There were some scattered buys of HMS and P&S in the Midwest, which fell by ~$5-10/gt mainly due to the end of “spring clean-up.”

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.