BIR Mirror: Ferrous Scrap Markets Bounced Back From Sudden Crash

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest quarterly Mirror on the Ferrous Division published by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) indicates that ferrous markets across the world have stabilized, after recovering quickly from the sudden drop witnessed during early-August this year.

According to the quarterly BIR report, reductions are seen on most ferrous grades in the U.S. for September. The U.S. scrap markets settled as expected in August. The export prices do not seem to push domestic prices, unless scrap supplies report a huge decline. Overall, fundamentals remain healthy for U.S. scrap market. Most European markets too witnessed minor reduction during this month based on August export prices, after slight correction in August. Most European steel mills reported healthy order books.

The ferrous shipments from the Europe and the U.S. to the Indian subcontinent and other Asian markets have shown signs of pickup over the recent few weeks. Despite fears of uncertainty in connection with escalating trade disputes involving the U.S., China and Turkey, most domestic markets are likely to see gradual improvement in October.

The stricter environmental quality standards as part of attempts by Chinese administration to curb pollution have resulted in increased consumption of steel scrap by the country. Incidentally, the steel scrap usage has more than doubled to 127.6 million tonnes during H1 2018, as compared with 62.2 million tonnes during the corresponding six-month period in 2017.