UK STEEL SCRAP WEEKLY: Light iron market supported on firm fundamentals

Prices for inter-merchant light iron scrap in the United Kingdom were stable for the second consecutive week on Friday June 4, with suppliers maintaining their offer prices amid firm domestic demand despite some mixed signs in export markets, trade sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK was ?170-180 ($240-255) per tonne on Friday, unchanged from a week earlier. The market is at its highest level since April 2012, when it was at ?180-185 per tonne.
But some trade sources believe the light iron market may be capped on attempts to push higher if export markets to key destinations such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent weaken considerably. Turkish steel scrap import prices have eased this week, which usually drags down European export prices into India and Pakistan. But Western scrap prices into the Indian subcontinent were stronger due to firm steel export demand for steel from India and Pakistan into China and increased domestic restocking.

"We see no change in...

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