Davis Index’s weekly north and south UK HMS 1&2 (80:20) ferrous scrap indices jumped by £19-20/mt ($26-27/mt) to £243/mt, respectively, delivered dockside, on Tuesday.
UK dockside ferrous scrap purchase prices surged higher over the past week, as merchant suppliers caught on to the disparity between local rates and developments in major trade routes.
One UK-based trader noted that merchant suppliers were now aware of deepsea exporters’ healthy margins and were content to sit on the material until dockside buyers lifted prices.
As a result, UK dockside purchase prices are now playing catch up with developments in Turkish HMS 1&2 (80:20) import benchmarks and will gnaw away at relatively wide bulk processing margins.
The weekly indexes for north and south UK OA (Plate & Structural) surged by £32-33/mt over the same period to £267/mt, respectively, delivered dockside on Jan 12.
Davis’ north and south UK 5A/5C (frag feed) ferrous scrap indexes soared by £34/mt to £172/mt, respectively, delivered dockside over the past week.
(£1 = $1.36)