Category: Ferrous Scrap

Great Lakes-area mills have entered the September ferrous scrap market in a surprisingly prompt manner.

“It's been a very interesting year in that the price of scrap should have gone down earlier this year."

With a surplus of ferrous scrap supply in the US, Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) said one key to maintaining costs is watching the price of conversion. When it comes to feeding electric arc furnaces (EAF), “Our Omni team is working very closely with us to make sure we have access to the right materials,” said […]

US scrap prices picked up in August, though near-term demand is expected to remain weak, scrap sources told SMU.

The US ferrous scrap market has essentially traded sideways for August. It may be too early to judge how much traction these prices will have with the trade.

It’s buy week again for ferrous scrap. US steelmakers are expected to offer their prices for August shipment this week. Most of the dealers and brokers RMU has quizzed believe the market has enough traction to hold sideways and even go up.

RMU contacted ferrous market players in both the Southeastern region and the Midwest regions about the direction of the ferrous scrap market for August. One executive in the Great Lakes district confirmed the flow of shredder feed and obsolescent scrap did not change in July. All his orders for shredded scrap have been delivering to the mills without issue. He thinks shredded scrap can trade sideways from July in the Midwest.

Some highlights from the most recent RMU survey.

The prices for the July market weren’t settled until July 8 and now we are approaching the formation of the August market.

Operating income from Steel Dynamics Inc.’s (SDI) recycling operations clocked in higher in the second quarter than in the first on increasing volumes and despite lower realized pricing. Recycling operations brought in $32.1 million, an increase over $22.6 million in Q1, but lower than the $40.3 million last year, the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based company said […]

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices  narrowed for the third consecutive month, hitting a level not seen since 2020, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

Scrap prices came in mostly sideways in July, with prime scrap prices edging down while shredded and HMS tags ticked up slightly, scrap sources told SMU. They believe a bottom has been reached in the market.

The ferrous scrap export market on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America has maintained its pricing for several months despite continuing declines in domestic markets.

North America has one of the most robust steel scrap markets in the world. The continent has a long history of steel production, significant imports of steel and steel-containing products, and mature steel consumption. Due to this, the reservoir of scrap available to be recycled each year in the US and other North American markets is substantial and growing.

After celebrating the July 4th holiday, let’s have a look back at the first half of 2024.

Sources contacted by RMU have delivered a bleak forecast for the market’s direction in July, potentially extending into August.

The US scrap market is quiet as we pass through June. Speculation about the direction of July is mixed, with most sentiment neutral or bearish. The concerns are about demand during the summer months. There are still several planned outages and other cutbacks at various mills that could limit overall demand for recycled steel scrap.

As the scrap market for June settles at lowered levels, let’s look at the situation for exports of ferrous scrap from the US East and Gulf coasts. Despite declines in the North American ferrous markets over the last two months, export prices have remained range-bound within a tight trading window. After a brief decline last […]

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices has narrowed for the second consecutive month, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

Domestic scrap prices have fallen in June for all grades tracked by SMU, with prime scrap sinking $30 per gross ton (gt) from May, according to scrap sources.

The suspense about the drop in ferrous scrap pricing for June has ended with Delta, Ohio-based North Star BlueScope entering the market at significantly lower numbers than most predicted.

The chatter about the June ferrous scrap market has been noticeably muted as we come off the Memorial Day weekend.

The Biden administration recently announced tariffs on several products from China, including steel and aluminum. There has been much rejoicing over this move and there has been a great deal of support from the steel industry. 

Why have steel emissions policies forgotten about recycling? The short answer is that they haven’t. ResponsibleSteel was recently characterized in an article featured in the SMU Executive Newsletter as advocating for steel emissions policies which “discourage recycling.” In fact, ResponsibleSteel sees recycled scrap as playing a critical role in driving steel decarbonization. Recent revisions to […]

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

Earlier this month, steelmakers entered the scrap market at mixed pricing. The prevailing price for obsolescent grades fell $20 per gross ton (gt). However, some notable districts decided to only drop $10/gt.

Domestic scrap prices this month are flat for prime material, but down for HMS and shredded, scrap sources told SMU.

After a considerable wait, the market for ferrous scrap for May shipment has started to form.

Turkish scrap import prices were stable last week. CRU’s assessment for HMS1/2 80:20 and shredded was unchanged at $384 per metric ton (mt) CFR and $408/mt, respectively.

As we approach “buy week,” a term industry veterans use to refer to steel mill scrap buying time and an excuse to remain in the office, we have seen a variety of slants on the May market.