Davis Index’s northern Spain HMS 1&2 (80:20) and shredded small bulk weekly ferrous scrap indices dropped by €15/mt ($18/mt) to €378/mt and €393/mt cfr, respectively, on Friday.
Indicative levels for small bulk ferrous scrap coasters declined sharply over the past week after Spanish buyers significantly lowered their bids in response to developments in the deepsea markets.
Prices on major seaborne trade routes reflected a temporary knee-jerk reaction to volatility in iron ore and hot metal production costs. That said, European and UK-based suppliers were reluctant to budge on offers given the relatively meager margin over dockside collection and processing costs. As a result, Spanish mills have been able to procure more competitively priced ferrous scrap volumes from domestic suppliers.
More recently, however, a modicum of stability has returned to these complementary bulk ferrous markets, which has served to shore up sentiment.
A UK-based ferrous scrap trader commented that he expected shortsea markets to rebound by £20/mt soon given bullish results of recent auctions.
Davis Index’s UK small bulk ferrous scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20) and shredded indices fell by €17-19/mt to €350/mt and €366/mt fob, respectively, during the week.
(€1=$1.21)