Steel scrap consumers in the British market have won price concessions in their delivery settlements with suppliers for September, trade sources said on Tuesday September 14.
The buyers used the slow export market and a consequent build-up of material to successfully argue for lower costs for their supplies this month.
Steel foundries managed to negotiate a reduction of around ?10 ($14) per tonne on their monthly deliveries for September, while steel mills achieved a drop of about ?20 per tonne after each consumer had asked for a slightly larger price cut, trade sources said.
"The UK steel scrap export market, for both short-sea and deep-sea shipments, has been slower than usual into September from August. That has created more supplies, and domestic steelmakers used that to their advantage," one major steel scrap supplier said.
"A couple of the major domestic steel mills wanted a reduction of more than ?20 per tonne, and their intake of steel scrap in recent months has been less than half of what they usually buy...