Prices
August 7, 2026
That's a wrap! A look back at the August scrap settlement
Written by Stephen Miller
After a brief delay in regional scrap buying, things are now virtually complete. There was some suspense during the middle of the week that a surprise in scrap prices from the larger mills was in store. Ultimately, however, nothing very dramatic happened.
North
In Thursday’s edition, SMU reported the scrap market in the Northern tier—namely Cleveland, Detroit, and Pittsburgh—saw prime grades as well as plate and structural (P&S) remain sideways from July while shredded fell $10 per gross ton (gt). In the Cleveland/Pittsburgh district, heavy melting scrap (HMS) dropped $20/gt.
Southeast
SMU spoke with a source at a large multi-location scrap processor who said buying in the South has been concluded. The major buyers did not sway much from their brethren in the North. In general, prime grades traded sideways with shredded down $10/gt, he said. HMS dropped $10/gt rather than $20/gt. The price on P&S dropped $10/gt at several mills but went sideways at others. He added the buying went fairly smoothly and mills did not necessarily press for even lower tags.
Texas
The market in Texas also mirrored what the Southeast did. A scrap executive there told SMU that cut grades and shredded went down $10/gt. Machine shop turnings (MST) dropped $15/gt, and busheling stayed even with July. He noted demand for scrap at all mills was solid this month. He was a bit concerned about September, when two major mills will take outages.
Chicago
A trading source in Chicago told SMU there were no surprises in his district for August. He indicated #1 busheling and #1 bundles traded sideways again, along with P&S. Prices on shredded and HMS continued to erode as both grades suffered a $10/gt drop. There was some reported weakness in mills further to the west due to outages, but prices behaved roughly as those in Chicago, according to another trading source.
