Proposal to amend settlement date of US stainless scrap consumer assessments

Currently, its suite of consumer stainless scrap assessments settle on the 10th of each calendar month in line with the publication deadline of the US ferrous scrap settlement.

North American ferrous scrap prices settle on or before the 10th of the month, per Fastmarkets’ methodology, which can be found here.

US domestic ferrous markets are taking longer to settle, delaying the settlement of US consumer stainless scrap prices.

Market negotiations for ferritic stainless grades – namely 400-series prices, which are predicated in part upon the settlement of US busheling prices of which they have an intrinsic value of broadly 80% – are particularly sensitive to the trading timeline of the monthly busheling settlement.

By extending the publication of its monthly US stainless consumer assessments, Fastmarkets aims to give market participants more time to negotiate spot deals after domestic ferrous scrap prices have settled for the month.

The assessments affected by the proposal are as follows:

MB-STS-0254 Stainless steel scrap 316 solids, clips, consumer buying price, delivered mill Pittsburgh, US cents/lb
Quality: Nickel 10.00-14.00%, chromium 16.00-18.00%, molybdenum 2.00- 3.00%, manganese max. 2.00%, carbon max. 0.08%
Location: Delivered mill, Pittsburgh
Unit: US cents per pound/USD per gross ton
Publication: Monthly, typically before the 10th

MB-STS-0255 Stainless steel scrap 304 solids, clips, consumer buying price, delivered mill Pittsburgh, US cents/lb
Quality: Nickel min. 7.00%, chromium min. 16.00%, molybdenum max. 0.50%, copper max. 0.50%, phosphorous max. 0.45%, sulfur max. 0.30%
Location: Delivered mill, Pittsburgh
Unit: US cents per pound/USD per gross ton
Publication: Monthly, typically before the 10th

MB-STS-0256 Stainless steel scrap 304 turnings, consumer buying price, delivered mill Pittsburgh, US cents/lb
Quality: Nickel min. 7.00%, chromium min. 16.00%
Location: Delivered mill, Pittsburgh
Unit: US cents per pound/USD per gross ton
Publication: Monthly, typically before the 10th

MB-STS-0257 Stainless steel scrap 430 bundles, solids, consumer buying price, delivered mill Pittsburgh, US cents/lb
Quality: Chromium 16.00-18.00%, manganese 1.00%, silicon 1.00%
Location: Delivered mill, Pittsburgh
Unit: US cents per pound/USD per gross ton
Publication: Monthly, typically before the 10th

MB-STS-0258 Stainless steel scrap 409 bundles, solids, consumer buying price, delivered mill Pittsburgh, US cents/lb,
Quality: Chromium 11.00%
Location: Delivered mill, Pittsburgh
Unit: US cents per pound/USD per gross ton
Publication: Monthly, typically before the 10th

These prices form part of Fastmarkets’ scrap package.

The consultation period for this change will end 30 days from the date of this pricing notice, on Friday March 7, 2025. An update to this notice will be published on that day. Subject to market feedback, the new settlement date of the 12th will commence in March 2025.

To provide feedback on this proposal to discontinue, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these prices, please contact Amy Hinton by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Amy Hinton, re: US stainless scrap consumer assessments.”

Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.