Unofficial predictions ahead of ferrous scrap price assessments for October

Although there has been no official scrap buys as of this day, scrap industry players are saying the October market will rise above the prices paid in September.

Informal reports are the Southeast, South, East Coast and Southwestern regions will go up $20/gt. The Ohio Valley and Chicago will trade sideways to up $10/gt. The Midwestern districts will rise $10-20/gt for October.

These are unofficial price assessments — but with export markets surging and optimism about the impact the Chinese stimulus may have on demand for steel, hence scrap, this could be accurate.

Coupled this with the domestic market bottoming as winter approaches, mills may look at this month as an opportunity to buy extra scrap at these low prices. If they wait any longer, they may have to pay more, depending on how the market moves.

RMU will report when the settlements are official.