A mixed start to the new year

Global – After several months of steady erosion, prices paid for the ferrous scrap sold into Turkey mounted a mild recovery towards the end of last year and held on to those gains in early 2015 amid decent levels of buying activity. However, the same has not applied everywhere else – most notably in the Far East.

Latest cfr price indications for shipments from Europe to Turkey are US$ 310-315 per tonne for standard quality HMS I/II 80/20 scrap and US$ 315-320 for shredded scrap. US exporters, in particular, have seen values to Asia come under pressure owing to a combination of factors, including the stronger dollar, cheap iron ore/billet availability and a sharp dip in what Japanese sellers are demanding for their scrap after a slide in domestic prices.

In November, and for the third month in a row, world production of crude steel showed barely any change from the corresponding month in 2013, according to World Steel Association statistics. Loss of the steelmaking momentum generated earlier in 2014 meant that the global output of 1.498 billion tonnes across the first 11 months of last year was just 1.8% ahead of the January-November 2013 figure. Slightly more than 1 billion tonnes of this total was contributed by Asia’s leading five producers, namely China, Japan, India, South Korea and Taiwan.

The full version of Recycling International’s latest ferrous market analysis will appear in its January/February 2015 issue.