Contributor: Stephen Miller

SMU welcomed to the stage George Adams for a Fireside Chat at the 2026 SMU Steel Summit on Wednesday.

The export markets on both coasts have not changed very much over this last week.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has agreed to rescind the Open Top Loading Rule (OTLR), according to a notice issued by the Recycled Material Association (ReMA).

There has been a resumption in pig iron activity in Brazil on the part of US-based steel mill buyers. Sources have confirmed there were two fresh deals concluded from South Brazil.  

August has been quiet thus far, with scrap suppliers working on completing their current orders as signals of a weaker September start to appear.

The pig iron market in the US has been thrown into uncertainty. The culprit? Indian material being imported into the US at prices well under the prevailing Brazilian level.

The spread between domestic hot-rolled coil and prime scrap prices widened again in August, a trend that began nearly a year ago.

There has been renewed activity in the Turkish deep-sea export arena as buyers continue to fill in their September needs.

SMU’s Current Sentiment Index for scrap jumped in August as Future Sentiment saw a sharp rebound, according to the latest data from our ferrous scrap survey.

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.

The US domestic scrap market seemed to get off to a fast start on Tuesday, but things have begun to get drawn out again as mills are still considering August pricing. Several of the larger multi-mill buyers have not officially settled.

The August domestic scrap market looks like it might settle early amid continued strong demand for melting stock from domestic steelmakers and high prices for finished steel.

A look at trends in the international scrap market.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) exempted Brazilian pig iron from Section 301 tariffs for faced labor concerns, so what's the story now?

The export market for scrap for Turkey has come back to life over the last week.

The Brazilian pig iron trade with the US has resumed after a month of inactivity.

A mid-month look at the developing US August scrap market.

The US reliance on foreign pig iron has led some to eye bringing production back to our shores.

The spread between domestic hot-rolled coil and prime scrap prices widened further in July, a trend that started back in September. It’s at its widest level since April 2022.

North American Iron Inc. has announced it has secured additional financing in order to advance its project to convert iron ore tailings into merchant pig iron.

The US scrap market has settled soft sideways in July, sources told SMU.

The scrap market for July is partially settled except for the three largest scrap buyers in the country.

SMU’s Current Sentiment Index for scrap increased in July as Future Sentiment slipped, according to the latest data from our ferrous scrap survey.

The scrap export market in both Europe and the US continued to decline after the activity of last week became confirmable.

The significant earthquakes in Venezuela could delay scrap exports, sources told SMU.

After the domestic scrap market wrapped up the first half of the year on a positive note, will July follow suit?

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.