Ferrous scrap prices rise

Following a steep decline in October and a small rebound in November, ferrous scrap prices have climbed again with a more than $30 per ton gain across the United States in the December buying period.

RMDAS (Raw Material Data Aggregation Service) pricing from Pittsburgh-based Management Science Associates (MSA) shows a $37 per ton increase for prompt industrial grades and shredded scrap and a $35 per ton increase for No. 1 heavy melting steel (HMS).

In the South, prices gained more than $40 per ton in the month’s buying period. In the North Central/East and North Midwest, prices gained more than $30 per ton following $20 per ton gains in November and a $40 per ton decline in October.

“I believe October was the bottom of the market, at least for the time being,” a recycler in the Southeast says. “The Southeast steel industry is running well. Most of the scheduled mill outages are now over, and output in the South is running at very high levels. Steel prices are trending up, and export scrap prices continue to rise. All of this is putting upward pricing pressure on domestic scrap.”

Shredded scrap prices gained from $35 per ton in the North Midwest to $43 per ton in the South, where prices settled at $292 per ton, while prompt industrial grades gained $30 per ton in the North Central/East and $43 per ton in the South. No. 1 HMS made a $31 per ton gain in the North Central/East and a $41 per ton gain in the South, settling at $258 per ton.

View the RMDAS ferrous scrap price index here.