Approaching April trading, market participants seem bullish about higher scrap prices, as pig iron values in the US are continuing their gradual rise amid ongoing supply shortages arising from the war in Ukraine.

Almost all participants agree that prices will rise further in April and they believe premium scrap prices will increase by even more due to the pig iron shortage and continuously increasing pig iron prices.

A US scrap supplier tells Kallanish: “It’s going to be another strong month unless pig iron prices collapse, which does not seem likely at all.”

On the West Coast, US-origin containerised HMS 1&2 80:20 offers remain firm in Taiwan, at almost $600/t cfr.

On the East Coast, although a Canadian scrap booking lifted expectations last week, Turkish mills have refused higher offers amid sufficient material availability in the market. No US-origin booking was heard last week following the latest deal at $650/t cfr Turkey the previous week.

Although US suppliers are targeting prices at $660-670/t cfr Turkey for HMS 1&2 80:20, market players do not find these likely to materialise given that Denmark-origin HMS 1&2 80:20 was sold last Friday at $655/t cfr.