October 12, 2008

RMDAS Ferrous Scrap Pricing index for US hit through the roof

Recycling Today reported that if mill buyers thought they were dealing with high prices in the first quarter of 2008, the second quarter started out by making those prices seem like the good old days of sub USD 500 scrap as buyers on the April spot market ran into per ton price increases of from USD 150 to USD 170 per ton, depending on the grade and region.

Regional aggregated spot market prices compiled by Management Science Associates of Pittsburgh, through its Raw Material Data Aggregation Service, show mills paid in a range of from USD 576 to USD 599 per ton for the new production scrap used to define the RMDAS Prompt Industrial Composite grade. While #1 Heavy Melting Steel and Shredded Scrap traded in a lower range, pricing for those grades also moved up by USD 150 to USD 160 per ton in April compared to March.

The report said that regionally, buyers in the North Midwest region faced the highest prices, with mills paying an average of USD 599 per ton for prompt industrial grades and USD 514 per ton for #1 HMS. Buyers in other regions may have paid a few dollars per ton less, but nonetheless faced record pricing that moved in a huge leap beyond what was being paid 30 days previously.