British dockside ferrous scrap benchmarks are likely to drop another £10-15/mt ($13.1-19.7/mt) based on grade and location by early next week, amid rumours that a large supplier concluded deals with small- to medium-sized collectors by the end of day Jan 23.
Davis Index understands that this would bring the supplier’s list prices for collectors without their own deep-sea ports, down to £160 for 1&2, £185 for OA (Plate & Structural – P&S), and £100 for 5A/5C (frag feed) from earlier this week.
If this deal sets a trend for the market, dockside collection prices could tumble for a second consecutive week and amount to an accumulated decline of £20.0-22.5/mt since the market peaked on Jan 14.
Davis Index believes the decline in UK dockside collection prices were largely driven by lower seaborne prices coupled with Turkish steel mills’ inactivity. These mills are waiting for benchmarks to drop further before concluding fresh trades.
In fact, the most recent deal recorded was between an Iskenderun-based mill that purchased 22,000mt of HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the UK at $277/mt cfr as reported by Davis Index on Jan 22.