US West Coast ferrous scrap dock prices increased on Tuesday after bottoming out last week, amid higher export demand and strong regional mill prices that traded sideways during the early July trading week.
Regional mills in the Northwest purchased scrap sideways for cuts and fragmented scrap grades despite the Midwest trading the grades down $20/gt, the Southeast trading the grades down $10/gt, and sideways to down $10/gt in the Texas region, compared with June settled numbers. The sideways pricing makes mills pricing more attractive than docks, thereby, forcing docks to increase prices to compete for inventories.
Sellers are reporting negotiations for late August and September bulk shipments into the Asian markets. Japanese export scrap prices are pointing towards a rebound as exporters are resisting lower bids from buyers, domestic scrap is expected to firm up, and finished steel demand in China could support Japanese finished goods and domestic scrap demand.
The weekly Davis Indexes in Portland increased for HMS 1&2 (80:20) and P&S 5ft by $8/gt to $184/gt delivered dockside and 194/gt delivered, respectively. The index for shredder feed rose by $7/gt to $140/gt delivered.
Docks in the northwestern region increased prices after a sharp decline prior to mill purchases with the expectation that mills would also lower buying prices in the early July scrap buy week. Given the sideways trend, docks returned to sellers with higher offers.
In Los Angeles, the weekly Davis Indexes increased across all grades after several downward adjustments in the past several weeks. Additionally, Los Angeles had retained prices substantially lower through the past several months in comparison to San Francisco and Portland. The weekly Davis Indexes in Los Angeles ticked up by $24/gt to $161/gt delivered dockside for HMS 1&2 (80:20), while P&S 5ft increased by $20/gt to $176/gt delivered, and shredder feed rose by $25/gt to $122/gt delivered.
The weekly Davis Indexes in San Francisco increased slightly across all grades with HMS 1&2 (80:20) rising by $3/gt to $182/gt delivered dockside and P&S 5ft and shredder feed inching up by $1/gt to $191/gt delivered and $132/gt delivered, respectively.
In the containerized market, HMS 1&2 (80:20) increased by $5-7/mt as containers increased from $200-210/mt fas last week to $205-217/mt fas reported for this week. Several sellers reported deals to Taiwan at $210-215/mt fas concluded early this week. Other sellers are negotiating at $220/mt fas on the grade with prospects of prices getting higher.