Davis Index’s weekly north and south UK HMS 1&2 (80:20) ferrous scrap indices increased by £10/mt ($14/mt) to £268/mt, delivered dockside, respectively, on Tuesday.
UK bulk ferrous scrap processors raised dockside purchase prices by £5-15/mt, depending on grade, this week to secure sufficient volumes to fill recently booked vessels, largely to Turkey. As a result, one large UK-based ferrous scrap exporter was heard paying at the top of this week’s range while rumoured to be still making approximately £60/mt gross margin.
Unsurprisingly, another British bulk processor who had booked considerably fewer deepsea cargoes was heard to be paying at least £10/mt lower by comparison.
Most UK bulk exporters have tempered the relative increase in dockside purchase prices to maintain a healthy margin despite parabolic price hikes in major seaborne trade routes.
That said, one local merchant commented that the longer seaborne prices remained this high (above $500/mt cfr Turkey) the higher the probability exporters will have to share more of the profit.
The weekly indices for north and south UK OA (Plate & Structural) climbed by £15-16/mt to £290/mt, delivered dockside, respectively, during the week.
Davis Index’s weekly north and south UK 5A/5C (frag feed) ferrous scrap indices also increased by £5/mt to £170/mt, on the same basis.
(£1=$1.41)