The market for inter-merchant light iron scrap in the UK was steady for the third consecutive week on Friday October 2, with tighter supplies meeting firm demand from major shredders, industry sources told Fastmarkets.
The supply issues were due to lower volumes being generated from heavy industry while the demand was for material to be used as feedstock in the steelmaking sector, they added.
Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for
steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?100-110 ($129-142) per tonne on Friday. This was a year-to-date high, surpassing ?95-110 per tonne in mid-January.
The steady trend in the light iron market may be replicated in talks that started this week to negotiate a settlement for domestic steel scrap deliveries to British steelmakers.
But with renewed demand at steelmakers and tighter supplies of scrap arising from junked cars and new car production, as well as from demolition projects, there was also the potential for a small price increase in monthly settlements to consumers in October, sources said.
"We think...