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Proposal to adjust Houston ferrous scrap

Following market feedback on the discrepancy between machine shop turnings and other ferrous scrap grades in the Houston dealer selling market, Fastmarkets proposes a realignment of the remaining grades in Houston, effective from the October 2022 monthly settlement.

September 22, 2022
By Sean Barry
Ferrous scrap Pricing notice

This follows September’s non-market adjustment to the dealer selling price for machine shop turnings in Houston.

Although Fastmarkets believes that its monthly trends have been correct, there has been feedback from the market that ferrous scrap prices in Houston no longer reflect actual transaction prices, owing in part due to market dislocations from the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. As a result, Fastmarkets will hold a consultation, during which it invites comments and input from market participants.

An update to this notice will be published on October 7. Any market adjustments to the ferrous scrap prices in Houston will be made in October prior to the monthly pricing settlement.

The specifications for the potentially affected scrap grades are as follows:

MB-STE-0350 Steel scrap No1 heavy melt, dealer selling price, fob dealer yard Houston, $/gross ton
Quality: Wrought iron and/or steel scrap ¼ inch and over in thickness. Individual pieces not over 60 inches x 24 inches (charging box size) prepared in a manner to insure compact charging.
Location: FOB US/Canada, specified city
Unit: USD per gross ton (Canadian cities in Canadian currency/net tons)
Publication: Monthly
Notes: ISRI Code: 200

MB-STE-0351 Steel scrap No1 busheling, dealer selling price, fob dealer yard Houston, $/gross ton
Quality: Clean steel scrap, maximum size 2 feet by 5 feet, including new factory busheling (sheet clippings, stampings, etc). May not include old auto body and fender stock. Free of metal coated, limed, vitreous enameled and electrical sheet containing more than 0.5% silicon. Location: US/Canada, specified city
Unit: FOB USD per gross ton (Canadian cities in Canadian currency/net tons)
Publication: Monthly
Notes: ISRI Code: 207

MB-STE-0352 Steel scrap shredded auto scrap, dealer selling price, fob dealer yard Houston, $/gross ton
Quality: Homogeneous iron and steel scrap magnetically separated, originating from automobiles, unprepared No. 1 and No. 2 steel, miscellaneous baling and sheet scrap. Average density 70 pounds per cubic foot. Location: FOB US/Canada, specified city Unit: USD per gross ton (Canadian cities in Canadian currency/net tons)
Publication: Monthly
Notes: ISRI Code: 210

MB-STE-0354 Steel scrap cut structural/plate 5ft max, dealer selling price, fob dealer yard Houston, $/gross ton
Quality: Cut structural and plate scrap, 5 feet and under. Clean open hearth steel plates, structural shapes, crop ends, shearings, or broken steel tires. Dimensions not less than ¼ inch thickness, not over 5 feet in length and 18 inches in width. Phosphorus or sulfur not over 0.05 percent.
Location: FOB US/Canada, specified city
Unit: USD per gross ton
Publication: Monthly
Notes: ISRI Code: 231

To provide feedback on these prices, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these assessments, please contact Amy Hinton at pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading: “FAO: Amy Hinton re: Houston price adjustment.”
To see all of Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.

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