RMDAS and Davis Index numbers portray stalled ferrous market

Prices paid by United States-based steel mills for benchmark ferrous scrap grades either fell or rose only modestly in the first 20 days of November, while more recent tracking indicates bids from Turkey are going lower late this month.

The domestic figures, as tracked by the Raw Material Data Aggregation Service (RMDAS) of Pittsburgh-based MSA Inc., portray benchmark grade price changes of from $1 to $3 per ton in the RMDAS North Midwest and North Central/East regions for the Oct. 21-Nov. 20 period.

The two exceptions were mill buying prices in the South region dropping by $8 per ton for prompt scrap and $11 per ton for shredded scrap. Those price drops indicate Southern scrap values moving back in line with the other two regions after a temporary spike in late September and early October.

In the 30-day late October and early-to-mid-November domestic mill buying period tracked by RMDAS, the national average price for its prompt industrial composite grade remained above the $400 per ton threshold at $403.

However, the value of the benchmark grade for prime scrap dropped to $396 per ton in the RMDAS North Midwest region, which includes mills in Illinois, the northwest corner of Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin and the Dakotas.

Nationally, the value of No. 1 heavy melting steel (HMS) checked in at $335 per ton in the late October-November buying period, up by $2 per ton. Shredded scrap nationally, however, fell by $3 per ton in value, down to $382 per ton.

Processors of obsolete grades hoping for a boost from overseas buyers late in the year may not experience a great deal of help, according to recent tracking by Davis Index.

On Nov. 20, the news and pricing information service reported its pricing for Turkish imports of U.S.-origin HMS (mixed No.1 and No. 2) fell by $5.90 per metric ton this week, following new transactions.

Davis Index says mill operators in Turkey are pointing to “muted steel product sales” and lower steel rebar prices as the rationale for an inability to bid up prices for imported ferrous scrap.