Supply and demand is what drives the price of scrap.
Demand for new steel goes down so does the price of scrap steel. Turkey is the biggest importer of scrap steel right now. They are not producing as much new steel as they were in the past and that is one of the biggest reasons why scrap steel prices have fallen here in the US. US mills also shut down for maintenance during the summer, which in turn means less demand for scrap steel, which means lower prices.
The recent down turn in prices has decreased the flow of scrap into the yards and many suppliers are not willing to sell to mills at the decreased numbers, myself included. The mills will have to raise their buying prices in order to secure enough scrap to fill their needs. I predict that scrap prices will increase between $10 and $40 per gross ton for all scrap grades in August. Let see if I'm right.
Bookmarks