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.
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 prices for all grades of pig iron have dramatically risen since SMU’s last report from Nov. 18.
The export market for ferrous scrap has been strengthening over the last month by a sizable margin.
The importation of basic pig iron has allowed EAF steelmakers to implement thin-slab casting technology to make drawing-quality flat-rolled sheet over the last 30 years.
The iron and steel foundry industries consume about 17% of the ferrous scrap in the US each year. They purchase several grades of scrap in common with steelmakers, such as shredded and turnings. But, most of the grades are much more restrictive than what larger mills require.
The announcement that Republic Steel in Canton, Ohio, is going to permanently cease operations disappointed many scrap suppliers in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The ferrous export market in the US has experienced several geopolitical events and natural disasters during 2023.
As the ferrous scrap market in the US enters the home stretch for 2023, it faces an array of issues and uncertainties.
The pig iron trade is an important element to the US steel and foundry industry.
Some of the movements in scrap and pig iron pricing over the past 18-24 months have been quite drastic.
The US scrap market for October is a bit unsettled as the UAW strike against the Big Three automotive companies has expanded and shows scant signs of an imminent settlement.