November RMDAS figures show regional disparity

November RMDAS figures show regional disparity
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Ferrous scrap mill buying prices, collected and averaged out by the Raw Material Data Aggregation Service (RMDAS) of Pittsburgh-based MSA Inc., show mills in the RMDAS North Midwest Region paid as much as $17 per ton less for scrap compared to their counterparts in other regions.

The transaction figures collected by RMDAS occurred from in the first three weeks of November 2017. The RMDAS North Midwest region includes mills and melt shops in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and northwest Indiana.

Scrap prices in the North Midwest region typically lag behind those in the RMDAS North Central/East region, which includes Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, the rest of Indiana and the Mid-Atlantic and New England states.

The North Midwest prices are usually comparable with those in the RMDAS South region, however. In May 2017, mills in the two regions paid within $4 per ton on average for all three grades tracked by RMDAS: prompt scrap, shredded scrap and No. 1 heavy melting steel (HMS).

In November, buyers in the South were able to get No. 1 HMS for just $3 per ton more on average compared to their counterparts in the North Midwest. However, Southern mills paid $9 more per ton for prompt scarp and $17 per ton more for shredded scrap.

With pricing and, in all likelihood, scrap flows having fallen in October, Southern mill buyers may have had to up their bids in November to attract scrap from other regions.

Transportation costs also may have played a role. Both rail and barge lines tend to provide additional capacity to agricultural customers during the harvest season, potentially at the expense of southern mills dependent on scrap shipped from the north.

Barge traffic also has experienced weather-related disruptions in the fall of 2017, perhaps causing some scrap to move by more expensive rail or truck options from north to south.

The Washington, D.C.-based Waterways Council Inc. reported in mid-October that a portion of the Ohio River near a Lock & Dam 52 (L&D 52) was closed for “nearly a week due to rising river stages that exceeded the maximum locking stage of 20.7 feet.” Precipitation from Hurricane Nate prompted the rising river level and closure in October, but L&D 52 was closed Sept. 6-14 because of an unscheduled maintenance outage at the 89-year-old lock.

According to the Waterways Council, as of mid-October there were 58 vessels with 658 barges waiting to transit L&D 52. “This backup [was] over roughly a 20-mile stretch of river,” the group reported.

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Source: Recycling Today
November RMDAS figures show regional disparity
<![CDATA[Ferrous scrap mill buying prices, collected and averaged out by the Raw Material Data Aggregation Service (RMDAS) of Pittsburgh-based MSA Inc., show mills in the RMDAS North Midwest Region paid as much as $17 per ton less for scrap compared to their counterparts in other regions. The transaction figures collected by RMDAS occurred from in the first three weeks of November 2017. The RMDAS North Midwest region includes mills and melt shops in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. Scrap prices in the North Midwest region typically lag behind those in the RMDAS North Central/East region, which includes Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, the rest of Indiana and the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. The North Midwest prices are usually comparable with those in the RMDAS South region, however. In May 2017, mills in the two regions paid within $4 per ton on average for all three grades tracked by RMDAS: prompt scrap, shredded scrap and No. 1 heavy melting steel (HMS). In November, buyers in the South were able to get No. 1 HMS for just $3 per ton more on average compared to their counterparts in the North Midwest. However, Southern mills paid $9…