STEEL SCRAP WRAP: Supply tightness continues to drive up prices

Global ferrous scrap prices continued on an upward trend due to supply tightness and strong demand by steelmakers in the week ended Friday November 27.

  • Strong demand in Turkey to feed domestic, export markets
  • Limited transactions in US because of Thanksgiving holiday
  • Strong demand in Vietnam on supply shortage
  • Container shortages in Taiwan support import prices
  • Indian prices move upward once more.

Turkey
Turkish steel mills were actively procuring import cargoes this week on steady demand for finished steel products in their domestic and export markets.

Steelmakers purchased 10 cargoes from the Baltic Sea and Europe. Sources said that there were limited numbers of transactions for United States-origin scrap due to a lack of supply in that country.

Pricing history
steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), Northern Europe origin, cfr Turkey.
steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), US origin, cfr Turkey.

United States
Export markets on both coasts of the US were largely muted in the lead-up to the major Thanksgiving holiday in the country on November 26.

Pricing history
steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), export index, fob New York.
steel scrap shredded scrap, export index, fob New York.
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), export index, fob Los Angeles.

Vietnam
Import demand remained strong on supply tightness for Japanese and American scrap, with buyers looking for Russian A3-grade cargoes to augment inventory levels.

Pricing history
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam.

Taiwan
Taiwanese steel mills were faced with a limited supply of containerized cargoes due to a shortage of containers and freight space.

Pricing history
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan.

India
Prices in India and Pakistan moved up due to continuing logistics issues and a rising international market.

Pricing history
steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India.

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