Ferrous Scrap Prices Drop on All but Prime Grades

SMU scrap sources on Friday divulged that negotiations have been slow with many mills not yet having bought as of this past Friday.  Price indicators are running from sideways on prime grades (busheling/bundles) to down $10, $20, $30 in the Ohio Valley, Midwest and Southeast. The east coast was referenced as being down by even greater amounts due to the dropping prices in Turkey and the resulting lack of exports off the east coast.  Our indications from one of our east coast scrap sources is obsolete grades will be down by as much as $50 per gross ton.

Prime grades were reported to be in shorter supply due to the strength of the order books at the EAF sheet mills. Prime grades will remain tight as we enter the summer months due to seasonal outages being taken at the automotive stamping plants which produce the majority of the prime scrap feedstock.