Davis Index’s monthly UK 1&2, 3B, and OA ferrous scrap consumer indices increased by £5-8/mt ($7-11/mt) to £313/mt, £330/mt, and £335/mt, delivered to mill, respectively.
UK smelters were heard to have settled monthly mill-yard negotiations relatively early in July, with some pre-empting potential price hikes in the seaborne market.
So far, those concerns appear unfounded as prices on major seaborne trade routes, particularly to Turkey, have softened over the past week.
Davis Index believes this weakness has partly been down to large bulk exporters in the UK and USA holding relatively large volumes of inventories.
One UK-based ferrous scrap trader commented that a large British bulk processor’s capacity is approximately two-thirds full across the country.
As a result, it looks as though bulk exporters may start to drop dockside purchase prices relatively soon to stem the flow of material into their yards.
That said, one UK bulk processor was heard to be aggressively bidding for HMS 1&2 feed at £290/mt, delivered dockside, in the northeast of England.
Davis Index’s monthly 4A/4C, 8A/8B, 12A/C, and 12D ferrous scrap consumer indices were little changed at £365-375/mt, £365-375/mt, £335/mt, and £355/mt, respectively, delivered mill basis.
(£1 = $1.39)