The ferrous scrap market in the United States is facing a downward correction in November, with unsold material from the October trade and supply exceeding demand expected to pressure prices lower in a short shipping month, sources said.
Only an onslaught of export deals or an early onset of winter weather limiting flows would be able to mitigate the downside, according to sources.
Scrap dealers have written off the rest of the year, either unloading their yards on concerns that November will see a price drop of $10-20 per gross ton or squirreling material away for January 2021 in hopes that the market will jump in the first month of the new year.
"Dealers fearing a major down market are really moving what inventory they have. We are going from no flow to major flow, but when that is gone it is gone. Several are telling me [that] by the end of October they will be at zero, and that might spell a shortage in December," a southern shredding source said.
And December could get interesting because sellers won't have...