Steel mills finalized their May scrap procurements in Ohio -- the last major US region to settle and the highest-priced -- late Thursday and into Friday, sources said.
A majority of sales were concluded on a delivered mill basis at $395/lt for shredded scrap, $435-440/lt for No. 1 busheling, $395-405/lt for plate and structural and $380/lt for HMS No. 1, sources said. For a majority of mills, shredded scrap buys were down $25/lt, No. 1 busheling was down $5/lt, plate and structural was down $20 and HMS No. 1 was down $10/lt.
Market sources indicated that mills were able to buy shredded scrap as low as $390/lt on Friday, the high end of the Platts daily assessment for shredded, which remained at $380-390/lt delivered Midwest mill on Friday.
The Ohio market remained the highest-priced for the second consecutive month. Two Ohio mills entered the April scrap market early out of necessity to acquire inventory and paid prices as high as $430/lt for shredded scrap, sources said. Prices saw a significant correction in May as mills had better inventory positions and supply in the area increased as outside dealers sent tons into the state to take advantage of higher prices.
Dealers as far west as Chicago and as far east as export terminals along the East Coast were offering material into the area this month, sources said, a practice that has been going on since late last year.