Week in Review: Scrap supply, aluminum trade and more

The recycled metals trade is hoping that 2024 will close on a higher note. As RMU’s Stephen Miller reported, usually, prices for scrap start to rebound with winter weather on the horizon. The October market saw modest price rises in most districts. The Great Lakes region saw the Chicago and Detroit districts keep prices sideways. Still, there’s always a question of how everything will actually play out.

As the industry transitions from extractive steelmaking toward more sustainable methods, one question is whether there will be enough ferrous scrap to support the efforts. Research done by the Steel Manufacturers Association showed new calculations that suggest that steel lifespans may be lower than previously thought. That means more scrap will be available sooner. You can read more about that here.

On the non-ferrous side, aluminum trading is more fractured than ever. RMU’s Gabriella Vagnini looks at the last decade of trade policy and how the sector got to the more costly, more complicated place it’s in today.

In its latest survey, our sister publication, Steel Market Update, found that the overall mill negotiation rate is at its highest point on record. More than nine out of every 10 steel buyers polled by SMU this week reported that mills are flexible on prices for new orders. Negotiation rates have been strong since April and on the rise since early September.

New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits declined for a second week, to levels seen before Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit Southeastern states. “The impact of Hurricane Helene seems to be dissipating more rapidly than feared, which is a positive sign that the economic impact of the hurricane is not mushrooming through the region,” Stephen Stanley, chief U.S. economist at Santander US Capital Markets, said in a note. You can read more at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Economic calendar

Consumer confidence	Tuesday, Oct. 29	10 a.m. Eastern
Job openings	Tuesday, Oct. 29	10 a.m. Eastern
ADP employment	Wednesday, Oct. 30	8:15 a.m. Eastern
GDP	Wednesday, Oct. 30	8:30 a.m. Eastern
Personal Consumption Expenditures Index	Thursday, Oct. 31	8:30 a.m. Eastern
Initial jobless claims	Thursday, Oct. 31	8:30 a.m. Eastern
U.S. employment	Friday, Nov. 1	8:30 a.m. Eastern
Construction spending	Friday, Nov. 1	10 a.m. Eastern
ISM	Friday, Nov. 1	10 a.m. Eastern