Ferrous scrap prices remain under pressure

Global – After a couple of months of steady price erosion, at least the ferrous scrap market has been showing signs of greater stability in early December. At the same time, a relatively small number of bookings has been made on the international market over recent weeks, reports Recycling International in its latest ferrous review.

Early-December cfr price indications for shipments from Europe to Turkey are US$ 295-300 per tonne for standard quality HMS I/II 80/20 scrap and US$ 300-305 for shredded scrap.

In the Indian market, shredded scrap in containers had been commanding upwards of US$ 340 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva in the early part of November but the prevailing price range is US$ 325-330 or even lower in some instances.

And in the domestic US market, ferrous scrap prices dropped in November by typically US$ 25-30 per ton, with the result that scrap flows receded by more than 50% in some regions.

Buyers’ ability to keep downward pressure on scrap prices has been aided by ongoing weakness in iron ore values, with the Metal Bulletin 62% Fe iron ore index hovering around US$ 70 per tonne in early December.

The full version of Recycling International’s latest ferrous market analysis will appear in its December 2014 issue.