Global scrap prices have remained largely unchanged during the working week from Monday August 28 to Friday September 1, with markets awaiting the end of holidays in Turkey.

After a strong first quarter of 2018, when more ferrous scrap produced in the United States was bought both at home and abroad, it appeared that the country’s scrap sellers were well placed to fend off buyers’ attempts to push market prices downward.

The London Metal Exchange is modifying its technology to allow it to launch multiple contracts at once, something it plans to do at the end of the year, according to the exchange’s chief executive officer.

Manganese ore prices continued to succumb to pressure, while the alloys markets maintained stability last week.

The internationalization of Dalian Commodity Exchange-traded iron ore futures and the sustainability of Chinese buyers’ appetite for imported premium hard coking coal will be the focus of the market this month, after prices of the steelmaking raw materials retreated in April.

Japanese buyers of seaborne coking coal will have to pay a higher price for their January-March volumes in comparison with the preceding quarter, with the emergence of fresh supply concerns last month leading to an uncertain outlook for prices in the coming quarter.

Scrap prices in major global markets trended downward during the working week from Monday July 10 to Friday July 14, as mills in most import markets successfully fended off further price increases.

The scrap prices in the major markets, other than the United States, have softened in line with weak demand from Turkish steel producers during the working week from Monday January 15 to Friday January 19.

Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap bookings this week with the support of domestic finished steel demand, while Taiwanese import and US export prices went up with the latest trades heard during the period from Monday May 8 to Friday May 12.

Offers for Brazilian slab will likely increase in April on sellers’ optimism despite growing resistance from buyers, after the United States temporarily delayed its Section 232 import tariffs on Brazil.