Shredded Scrap Poised to Rise in East, Sideways Elsewhere?

Last week we received information about the expectation for ferrous scrap price negotiations between the domestic mills and their scrap suppliers for the month of December. Over the weekend one of our east coast scrap sources provided us more details as to what they expect this week as negotiations begin in earnest:

I am not absolutely certain what the upcoming trading week has in store.  Shred in the mid-Atlantic is in short supply and there is some demand for it from the local mills.  With all the export scrap sold recently, the exporters seem to be preoccupied filling their own needs, will pull the scrap they need from local dealers and likely not offer any to the local mills.  So we could see shred up $25-$30 from November levels in the east.  In the OH Valley, I don’t expect anything less than sideways for obsolete grades and more likely we will see trading in the $180-$190 range there as well, which is slightly up.  Consensus is that prime supply will keep those grades sideways for the most part, but mills looking for shred may find it easier to just buy busheling because they can’t find enough shredded, even though their melt shops may not be very happy with that decision.