Following a fourth consecutive month of price increases, the US scrap market is seen seeking direction for April trading, Kallanish notes.

Some market participants believe price rises are likely to end and values stabilise in April, as prices are no longer supported by export markets and flow will improve due to better weather conditions. However, others say prices will continue to gain until May as domestic suppliers are mostly out of inventories now following strong March trading, while not even easing supply in spring will result in sufficient material.  However, a downward trend does not seem likely for either side.

On the US West Coast, prices have had a soft start to the week. While US-origin containerised HMS 1&2 80:20 offers declined by $5/tonne to $430/t cfr Taiwan, local US mills’ scrap purchase prices lost $10/t on Monday due to weakened sentiment after last week's financial market slump.

On the East Coast, no scrap booking from the US was confirmed last week. The latest bookings from the region were concluded by a Canadian supplier at $472/t and $475/t cfr Turkey for HMS 1&2 95:5. However, Turkish mills are not expected to accept these levels now as European suppliers are decreasing their offer prices. US suppliers mostly tried to maintain their prices at above $460/t cfr for HMS 1&2 80:20 last week but failed to see buying interest from Turkish mills amid those mills’ weak rebar sales.

Despite Turkey’s ongoing requirement for scrap purchases, most market participants are expecting a slight correction in scrap prices this week due to falling rebar values and sufficient offers in Turkey’s scrap market. They do not find a price level at above $460/t cfr workable under current conditions.