Contributor: Stephen Miller

The export market off the US East Coast has been largely inactive over the last two weeks.

Sims Limited, formerly Sims Metal Management, raised its fiscal-year 2026 earnings guidance from its March 2026 estimate in an update on June 16.

There has been a pause this month in new pig iron transactions between Brazil and the US due to uncertainty around US tariffs.

The spread between domestic hot-rolled coil and prime scrap prices continued to widen in June, a trend that began in September.

The scrap market seems firm as we go into the midsummer month of July without too many changes from June.

One possible reason for the lull in activity is the ambiguity of the tariff treatment of Brazilian pig iron following an announcement last week from the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) about Section 301 tariffs.

The bulk deep-sea export market in the Atlantic Basin has not shown much movement lately. Buyers in Turkey have limited their activity in an attempt to bring prices down in both the US and Northern Europe. However, this does not seem to be working to a significant extent.

SMU’s Current Sentiment Index for scrap slipped in June, but Future Sentiment rose, according to the latest data from our ferrous scrap survey.

The US domestic ferrous scrap market started to form on Thursday.

Current scrap market sentiment is again divided as we enter the summer month of June.

The pig iron import market in the US continues its upward price movement.

Jefferson Shredding & Recycling LLC, Birmingham, Ala., is planning to install a shredder system at Outokumpu’s Calvert, Ala., stainless steelmaking facility, according to a recent press release.  

The export markets are generally showing an increased demand for scrap.

SMU spoke with several market players around the country regarding the ferrous scrap market in June, with many sources seeing next month as broadly sideways.

The spread between domestic hot-rolled coil and prime scrap prices continued to widen in May, a trend that began in September.

Although price levels have been quite favorable recently in the Brazilian pig iron market, there does not seem to be enough production to keep the pipeline intact.

What might be in store for the ferrous scrap market this summer?

The May scrap market took much longer to settle than most players anticipated, but the results are mostly in.

The May scrap market in the US seems to be just finishing up its settle as of the writing of this article. Luckily, we have our latest ferrous scrap market survey to give us an insight before we release our prices article next week.

SMU’s Current and Future Sentiment Indices for scrap both fell in May, though they remain at elevated levels, according to the latest data from our ferrous scrap survey.

The export market on the North American East Coast has been firming after seeing a sale that climbed to $415.50 per metric ton (mt) CFR for HMS 85/15.

The prevailing sentiment for May is that #1 busheling and bundles are likely to increase. This may cause pig iron to continue its upward trajectory.

The US domestic scrap market for May is forming a lightly bullish consensus opinion among the seller community.

Imports of various iron and steelmaking raw materials are eligible. These include pig iron, direct-reduced iron (DRI)/hot-briquetted iron (HBI), iron ore pellets, and ferroalloys, to name a few.

The ferrous scrap export market from the US has been poised to rise further amid reluctance of their Turkish customers to increase prices beyond the recent bullish prices they paid earlier this month.

Pig iron availability in the US is in short supply, various sources reported to SMU. However, based upon figures for Q1'26, pig iron shipments from Ukraine and Brazil are at high levels.

There are several factors buttressing the ferrous scrap market against it seasonal fall in the spring months. We all know about the Iran War and the rise in fuel costs. Other factors include strong steelmaking activity, rising steel prices, lighter inbound scrap flows, and firm export markets.

The spread between domestic hot-rolled coil and prime scrap prices widened again in April, a trend that started back in September.

We look at market participant comments from this month's SMU Ferrous Scrap Survey.

After an active end to March in the Cross-Atlantic export trade, things have calmed down thus far in April.