Ferrous prices continue to decline

Raw Material Data Aggregation Service (RMDAS) ferrous scrap pricing, as measured by mill purchases by Pittsburgh-based MSA Inc., shows scrap prices continue to decline across the country.  

The RMDAS prices, released June 20, cover a buying period that extends to the third week of each month. U.S. scrap prices dropped $27 to $271 per ton in June. A three-month buying period shows receding scrap prices from $329 per ton in April to $298 in May and $271 in June. Prompt industrial composite grades also fell by $28 to $300 per ton and No. 1 heavy melting steel (HMS) declined by $33 to an average $242 per ton nationally.

Regionally, shredded scrap fell sharply in the North Midwest region, by $29 per ton, compared with a $28 per ton decline in the North Central/East and $22 per ton drop in the South. Prompt grades fell by $30 per ton in the North Central/ East and North Midwest regions and $20 per ton in the South, where prompt grades retained their highest value at $307 per ton compared with $295 in the North Midwest and $299 in the North Central/East.

In June, prices for No. 1 HMS fell between $34 and $30 per ton. Mills in the South paid an average $248 per ton compared with $247 per ton in the North Midwest and $238 per ton in the North Central/ East region.