Category: Raw Materials

The March outlook for most ferrous products is trending down faster than most participants thought as recently as a week ago.

In the period between mid-February and mid-March, CRU forecasts global demand for steelmaking raw materials to change little from the previous month,but buying activity will improve towards the end of next month

The Mid-American ISRI Chapter held its annual meeting in St. Louis this month. Over the years, this event has become a “must attend” for the scrap community nationwide.

Having just attended the historically significant ISRI Mid-America Chapter Consumers Night Banquet in St. Louis and waiting for my delayed flight, it seemed I had the perfect opportunity to inform the industry of a few items that came out while wheeling and dealing in the beautiful Union Train Station Hotel. For the West Coast export […]

While seaborne trade has been challenging due to weak global steel production, demand for ferrous scrap in the US remains strong, according to Sims Ltd.

The CRUmpi declined by 1.7% month over month (m/m) to 325.2 in February, compared to a 4.3% m/m increase in February 2023.

The scrap export market has demonstrated resiliency so far this year from the US East Coast. This strength has mainly come from the Turkish market. Despite weakening orders for rebar in their domestic market, imported scrap prices have held up until the last several days. The US West Coast is not as active, but there are orders in South Asia and in South America that are keeping things afloat.

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices narrowed further this month, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

The iron ore market has been largely calm, with China observing the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday period, while demand in Europe and JKT has been slow to pick up. Supply has been somewhat weaker, but overall, the price has held steady. Supply from Port Hedland remained unchanged w/w despite Roy Hill having no shipments […]

US busheling scrap prices fell this month, while HMS and shredded grades remained largely unchanged.

The market for February scrap shipments has largely been settled. The prices for scrap across the country went down very modestly. The price tags on #1 Busheling and bundles went down $10 per gross ton (gt) in most districts. The exceptions were Chicago and Detroit, which fell $30/gt, to $480 and $475, respectively.

The pig iron market has risen in recent months from the high $390s per metric ton (mt) last fall to $490/mt for Brazilian material and a bit more for Ukrainian product - for an overall average of $495/mt CFR.

The state of the US scrap market is not very well understood, according to the dealer trade. It seems steelmakers in several regions are still looking to buy scrap, several sources told SMU.

CRU forecasts that global demand for steelmaking raw materials will fall month over month (m/m) between mid-January and mid-February. The major downward pressure on raw materials demand will come from China, where steel end-use demand will fall toward the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday (Feb. 10–17).

When I started in the scrap business many years ago as a rookie trader in Luria’s Cleveland office, I saw an industry composed of family-owned businesses stretching across a great industrial nation.

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices narrowed slightly this month, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

Domestic scrap prices ended up down slightly after a roller coaster of trading in January, scrap sources told SMU.

Turkish scrap import prices increased last week with CRU’s assessment for HMS1/2 80:20 at $423 per metric ton (t) CFR, up by $7/t week over week (w/w) but down $2/t month over month (m/m). This was driven by a pickup in buying activity.

For two consecutive months, the initial scrap prices didn’t attract the amount of scrap that mills needed. A Detroit area mill came in at $460 per gross ton (gt) for busheling, which was down $50 from last month and down $20 on shredded and plate and structurals (P&S). But I guess they did not know at the time another mill in the district bought scrap sideways. Needless to say, that order filled right away. SMU could not find any supplier who sold at down $50.

US scrap prices for January remained unsettled as of early Thursday afternoon, according to market sources.

Pig iron prices rose month over month (MoM) in all major regions aside from Europe on improved buying. Demand in the US remains robust while market participants report that availability of Brazilian material increased after tightening a month prior. Meanwhile, Ukrainian export capacity increased due to greater access to temporary sea corridors.

A Detroit-area mill entered the scrap market on Friday afternoon with the following offers: The Chicago area followed suit: Mills in the Great Lakes region sensed there was ample supply of most grades. Also, they all bought heavily last month and so had sufficient inventories to make this move, market participants said. Still, the move surprised […]

After a brief decline in the price of scrap for the Turkish market, which peaked in December at approximately $424 per metric ton (mt) for HMS 80/20, the market has bottomed at $405/mt on cargoes from Europe.

Radius Recycling reported a net loss in its fiscal first quarter of 2024 on tighter supply flows for recycled metals and lower average selling prices for the company’s products.

As we look back at the scrap market for 2023, it basically followed its normal seasonal pattern. Most of the disruptive geopolitical events that riled ferrous raw materials occurred in 2022. So, with those things out of the way—or settling down at least for now—2023 resumed its normal pattern.

Over the last two decades, the role of the scrap broker has been diminished in favor of steel mills purchasing their scrap requirements directly from scrap dealers.

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices widened slightly this month, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

US scrap prices shot up in December and are expected to continue their rise in January, market sources told SMU.

The prices for all grades of pig iron have dramatically risen since SMU’s last report from Nov. 18.

A large Detroit-area scrap buyer entered the market on Wednesday at significantly higher prices than a month earlier.