Ferrous market spends June in a steady state

Three benchmark grades of recycled steel have traded in a narrow range since mid-April, based on U.S. mill purchase prices.

steel shredded scrap
The benchmark No. 2 shredded scrap obsolete grade tracked by RMDAS rose by just $2 per ton in May and June.
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The value of recycled steel has fluctuated only modestly in the two United States mill buying periods from mid-April through mid-June.

Mill transaction figures collected by the Raw Material Data Aggregation Service (RMDAS) of Pittsburgh-based MSA Inc. show shippers were being paid within a $5-per-ton range for three benchmark grades of recycled steel during the 60-day period.

Domestic mills paid a national average for No. 1 heavy melting steel (HMS) that rose by just $1 per ton in the mid-May to mid-June buying period compared with the previous 30 days, according to MSA.

Another benchmark obsolete grade tracked by RMDAS, No. 2 shredded scrap, rose by just $2 per ton in May and June.

Showing only slightly more price improvement was the RMDAS prompt industrial composite grade, consisting of factory-generated busheling and bundles. That grade rose by $3 per ton on average in the U.S. in late May and the first three weeks of June.

Regional variations in the spring likewise have been relatively modest. In the buying period from May 21 to June 20, mills in the RMDAS North Midwest region paid $447 per ton for prompt scrap, while buyers in the South paid $434 for similar shipments.

That $13-per-ton difference was the widest gap from one region to another this month, with both No. 1 HMS and No. 2 shredded scrap showing only a $6-per-ton difference from region to region.

As traders gear up for the next domestic mill buying period, they could be keeping an eye on U.S. steel production figures and overseas scrap demand.

In the third full week of June, U.S. steel mills operated at nearly 80 percent capability utilization (capacity) and produced nearly 1.79 million tons of steel, according to the Washington-based American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), 4.9 percent higher compared with the 1.7 million tons made in the third week of June in 2024, when mills were operating at a 76.7 percent capacity.

Additionally, output during the week ending June 21 was 0.2 percent higher compared with the previous week, according to AISI.

At the same time, a spike in bids by exporters can put a strain on supply that can ripple into the domestic market.

During the fourth week of June, Davis Index largely has been describing the state of recent transactions between exporters and buyers in places like Turkey and India as “flat” and “unchanged."

A June 23 report from Davis Index says renewed interest from Turkish buyers is causing “bullish sentiments” among some sellers in the U.S. and Europe but also refers to individual transactions that exhibit flat pricing.

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On the same date as its Turkish report, Davis Index posted a separate report saying prices offered for recycled steel from buyers in India are trending sideways.

That report refers to restricted appetites for ferrous scrap by Indian buyers of both bulk cargoes and recycled steel shipped via container.

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