A weaker United States ferrous scrap export market is stoking fears that prices could retreat in the August domestic trade after recyclers on the East Coast lowered their selling prices by $10-25 per gross ton in a tell-tale sign.
International steel mills have lowered their import prices for US ferrous scrap grades - including heavy melt - this week, citing inflation, higher oil prices and the re-emergence of the Covid-19 Delta variant in some steelmaking regions. Now talk is abounding of a potential $10-30-per-gross-ton drop on cut grades in the domestic market during August versus July, with US mills warning sellers that a downturn is imminent next month due to healthy inflows negating any chance of upside or even sideways trading on these grades.But many...