Underlying strength in demand for No 1 busheling took sellers in the United States by surprise when the market held steady and ignored chatter that May's ferrous scrap prices would fall.
"I thought we were going to see a downside, but inbound flows [to recyclers] are outpacing shipping availability. Yards are having trouble shipping because of logistics," one national broker, who now expects busheling to show resiliency through July, told American Metal Market."The prime market could still correct in June a little, but mills did lose a chance to pull the market down in May," the national broker added.Before the monthly trade kicked off, there was widespread sentiment that prices had peaked and would likely head lower in May. While obsolete grades did move lower, busheling prices held steady. Mills throughout the Midwest agreed to roll over prices and continue to buy prime scrap at April levels, with Chicago sales of No 1 busheling averaging $385...