UK STEEL SCRAP WEEKLY: Light iron price drops in line with deep-sea exports

The market for light iron steel scrap in the UK dropped in the week to Friday March 19, tracking a similar move in the European deep-sea export markets to Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, although British domestic supply tightness should support prices in the near term, sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, fell to ?140-150 ($195-209) per tonne on Friday, from ?150-165 per tonne a week before.
The move came after a drop of about $18 per tonne in European export prices to the key destination of Turkey, which is widely used as a benchmark for deep-sea steel scrap prices from the West.
Some market sources had expected steeper drops in light iron scrap prices, but noted that reductions in British scrap generation in the past 12 months have meant much tighter supplies for both export and domestic demand.

"Although there has been some downward pressure on export prices, the 5C [light iron steel scrap] market has remained fairly steady due to demand from the shredders," one major British scrap supplier told Fastmarkets. "Most shredders appear to be short of feed, which is offering support to UK...

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