Davis Index’s monthly Spanish consumer ferrous scrap indices recovered by €50-55/mt ($60-66/mt), depending on grade and location, from the declines witnessed by early-to-mid February following the conclusion of mill-yard negotiations in mid-March.
Unsurprisingly, the benchmarks on major seaborne trade routes, particularly to Turkey, have been the de facto price-makers for all ancillary and neighboring markets, including Spain, given that it purchases the bulk of European export volumes.
This has become even more prevalent now that a group of recyclers in northern Spain has banded together to build deepsea cargoes to export to Turkey, despite Spain having a net deficit in its ferrous scrap requirements.
Domestic benchmarks have largely tracked the high degree of correlation in both the Spanish and Turkish import prices over the past month given that local mills must compete with deepsea markets to secure sufficient volumes for their melting requirements.
The Davis Index indices for E1 (old thin), E3 (old thick), and E40 (shredded) jumped €50-55/mt to €330/mt, €340/mt and €345/mt, delivered to mill, respectively.
(€1 = $1.19)