Market
September 10, 2024
Ferrous scrap exports rise slightly
Written by Stephen Miller
There has been some improvement in USEC ferrous scrap exports over the last 10 days. Just before the sideways settlements in the U.S. domestic market, the Turkish export price lifted off the floor of $360/mt CFR for HMS 80/20 by $3/mt. After the sideways movement of the U.S. market last week, two cargoes were concluded up another $7/mt, which brought the price to $370/mt for HMS and $390/mt for shredded and bonus.
What’s ahead for export?
There are many things which can affect the level of export demand. With the weakness in the Chinese steel market, billets are now competing with ferrous scrap in the international rebar sector. RMU reached out to a major East Coast exporter to the Turkish market for his assessment of future movements. According to this player, things will have a hard time moving up from here in the near future. He is concerned with the iron ore market, which has lost ground lately in light of a softened market in China. Billet sales are continuing, and this should hold things pretty much sideways on the next round of buying, he said. It turns out, he was right.
At the start of this week, there had only been a few cargoes of scrap booked for October. Despite the continued billet inflow, steelmakers in Turkey booked three U.S. cargoes and three European cargoes at prices that were basically sideways. It is unclear how much more buying will continue from here.
In the USEC container market, prices for shredded scrap have remained in the mid-$350’s on a FAS basis. This price looks to be stable going forward, especially with shredded going sideways in most of the U.S.
The USWC doesn’t possess the excitement as its counterpart to the east. Chinese overproduction has inundated the Asian markets with steel and billet exports and reduced the demand for deep sea and container cargoes. Even with higher bulk freights than East Coast shippers have to pay for destinations in the Mediterranean, their CFR price can’t crack $390/mt. The container market is stalled at $325/mt +/- for Taiwan.
