Davis Index’ weekly northern Spain HMS 1&2 (80:20) and shredded ferrous scrap small bulk indices were unchanged at €218/mt and €228/mt cfr, respectively, on Friday.
Robust ferrous scrap prices on major seaborne trade routes, particularly to Turkey, have heightened speculation that UK and EU bulk exporters will increase dockside purchase prices shortly–which will no doubt, in most cases, be passed onto mills.
Market participants expect UK and EU dockside purchase prices to firm up by £5/mt to £160/mt and by €5/mt to €205/mt, respectively, for HMS 1&2 (80:20) in the short term, on the recent strength witnessed in the deep-sea market over the past two weeks.
According to a Spanish buyer, now that import prices had normalized to what they felt represented “value,” buyers would now have to compete with larger, higher-priced deep-sea markets for future cargoes.
More importantly, now that buyers and sellers are mentally prepared for an increase in small bulk ferrous scrap prices, it could be a matter of time before the next round of hikes come to fruition.
Davis Index’ UK small bulk ferrous scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20) and shredded indices were unchanged over the same period at €205/mt and €215/mt fob, respectively, on June 19.
(€1= $1.12; £1= $1.23)