The weekly Davis Index for ferrous scrap north and south UK HMS 1&2 (80:20) declined £13/mt ($18/mt),and £18/mt,, over the past week, to £136/mt and £131/mt, respectively, delivered dockside, on February 11.
According to market participants, many UK bulk exporters built up sizeable inventories in anticipation of prices rebounding on major seaborne trade routes, particularly to Turkey, and as such were able to drive down collection benchmarks.
Large processors with deep-sea facilities in the south were able to push prices HMS 1&2 (80:20) to as low as £125/mt delivered dockside in some cases, while their counterparts and peers in the north could only achieve a low of £130/mt on the same basis.
Davis Index calculates that a £5/mt spread has opened up between the north and south of the country for HMS 1&2 (80:20). This is largely due to processors paying a premium for material in the north given the higher degree of export yard concentration and competition for volumes.
The Davis’ weekly north and south OA (plate & structural) and 5A/5C (frag feed) ferrous scrap indices dropped £14/mt and £15/mt over the same period to £158/mt and £75/mt delivered dockside, respectively.