The weekly Davis Index for north and south UK HMS 1&2 (80:20) ferrous scrap declined by £14/mt ($17/mt) and £1/mt to £83/mt and £85/mt, respectively, delivered dockside on Tuesday.
However, the lowest confirmed transactions for HMS 1&2 (80:20) rebounded from the £60/mt lows last week to around £65-75/mt this week, despite dockside ferrous scrap prices for these grades averaging lower again this week.
Government-enforced lockdowns, restrictive measures on the acceptance and handling of scrap metal, and the closure of “up to 90pc” of smaller yards has constricted the flow of material to larger processors, stemming the extent of recent price falls, according to market participants.
Many large UK ferrous scrap processors have increasingly offered more material to South and Southeast Asian buyers while also taking the opportunity to build “relatively cheap” inventories, following the closure of many European steel mills.
However, there are significantly more offers than bids in the market, with fewer sellers competing over even fewer buyers. Given a finite amount of storage at yards, this may only be a hiatus as COVID-19 will be a persistent cloud hanging over the market for weeks and months to come.
The weekly index for north and south UK OA (Plate & Structural) ferrous scrap fell by £15/mt and £13/mt to £108/mt and £110/mt, respectively, delivered dockside. The weekly Davis Index for north and south UK 5A/5C (frag feed) dropped by £2/mt and £8/mt to £53/mt and £45/mt, respectively, over the same period.
(£1 = $1.23)