US Shredded Scrap prices down further in October

UNITED STATES November 10 2016 6:13 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): October prices of US shredded scrap ended at $202 a long ton, down a further 8% across the month. The price decline was as a result of weak end-user demand, declining finished steel prices and hence low mill utilization rates, according to the Steel Index.

October scrap settlements began slowly with market participants encountering the beginning of an upward move in the Turkish scrap market, declining finished steel prices and reduced flow of scrap in the yards with low scale prices.

Market participants had been anticipating a decline of $20 a long ton, which came to fruition as TSI published its US 10-day average at $201 a long ton, down $21 a long ton.

The decline came about as a result of mills experiencing tepid end-user demand, resulting in reduced scrap demand and lower mill utilization rates. The export market however began to show signs of life again as Turkish mills returned to the marketplace.

The third week of the month saw export prices from the US East Coast rise steadily, which in turn supported suppliers’ beliefs that the export market reached a bottom in October. S&P Global Platts also reported that brokers believed the Midwest market had also bottomed out and that November settlement prices may be up. 

This was further supported by the fact that as export prices increased, coastal terminals began to raise their offers to inland suppliers.