US containerized ferrous scrap indexes increased in San Francisco and Seattle but fell in Los Angeles this week, pausing what would have been the sixth consecutive week of increases for the full region. On the East Coast, though, only #1 busheling and turnings indexes increased negligibly while the other grades trended flat.
The weekly Davis Indexes in New York were rangebound with #1 busheling rising only by $1/mt to $276/mt fas, while HMS 1&2 (80:20) remained unchanged at $258/mt fas and P&S 5ft held at $273/mt fas The index for machine shop turnings rose by $2/mt to $232/mt fas, though shredded was flat at $272/mt fas.
On August 17, some US sellers on both coasts were unsure about capturing further price increases as buyers showed resistance to higher trades. Buyers, on the other hand, noted that supply has eased with improved collection rates and increased collection activity as economies reopen. Ferrous scrap prices began to inch down in deals early in the week, but the jump in iron ore prices prompted some buyers to accept higher scrap prices in the short term.
Buyers from Taiwan, India, and other Asian destinations along with regional sellers expected a price correction towards the end of last week and early this week, which resulted in some lower deals. However, with iron ore prices jumping, sellers are now holding firm on higher offers.
Deals at higher offer prices are not widely reported but are expected later this week. Already Davis Index has learned of a containerized deal for P&S 5ft at $265-268/mt from Los Angeles on Thursday.
The weekly Davis Index in Los Angeles for #1 busheling decreased by $4/mt to $262/mt fas. The index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) remained unchanged at $241/mt fas while P&S 5ft decreased by $3/mt to $260/mt fas while shredded scrap fell by $5/mt to $260/mt fas.
Last week, buyers inquiring for scrap in Los Angeles sought better grades over HMS 1&2 (80:20), which increased the premium on those grades, but the spread between the two types of grades reportedly decreased this week.
Japanese scrap export prices strengthened with the higher Kanto tender bids during the week. The higher bids resulted in better import scrap prices in Taiwan, Vietnam, and Indonesia this week that support US-sourced scrap prices. West Coast sellers expect prices to rise by $10-15/mt on containers between now until early September.
The Davis Indexes in San Francisco moved up with #1 busheling increasing by $10/mt to $260/mt fas and HMS 1&2 (80:20) inching up by $3/mt to $238/mt fas. P&S 5ft rose by $9/mt to $259/mt fas and shredded increased by $8/mt to $258/mt fas.
San Francisco area freight is higher than in Los Angeles, which usually results in prices trending lower than the latter by $5/mt. However, buyers report strong quality and willingness to negotiate by San Francisco sellers at a time when Los Angeles sellers remained firm on pricing. The better grades are trending close to Los Angeles this week though shredded scrap discussions with an Indian buyer were heard at $263/mt fas in the region.
The weekly Davis Indexes in Seattle increased in tandem with San Francisco, with the index for #1 busheling moving up by $3/mt to $258/mt fas, HMS 1&2 (80:20) rising by $3/mt to $238/mt fas, P&S5ft increasing by $5/mt to $258/mt fas, and shredded also climbing by $5/mt to $258/mt fas.