November Scrap Prices Moving Higher than Expected

Steel Market Update (SMU) ferrous scrap sources advised us over the weekend that strength in the Ohio Valley, as well as in the export markets, has led to ferrous scrap prices trading higher than originally thought. Talks continue in many of the regions of the country which have not yet completed scrap pricing negotiations for the month of November. Even so, the trend is clear, scrap prices are going up.

Higher scrap prices are supportive of higher flat rolled sheet prices. It is SMU opinion that steel input costs is going to be one of the stories behind the cost push we will see out of the domestic steel mills in the coming months.