The ferrous scrap market is governed by the forces of supply and demand. And judging by the relative stability exhibited by the No. 2 shredded scrap grade throughout the last year, these forces have been adequately balanced.
“Markets have normalized,” an auto shredder operator based in Georgia says. “They are not moving up or down much.”
He predicts that the market will remain level in the Southeast. However, he says he expects to see pricing for No. 2 shred in the Northeast to increase by $10 to $15 per ton, reaching parity with pricing in the Southeast.
“We are not going to see a downturn in the market any time soon,” the Georgia-based processor says. “In the worst case scenario, it will remain level. In the best case scenario, we’ll see a bit of a pop.”
An Ohio-based scrap processor says he expects pricing for No. 2 shred to move sideways in May.
He adds that more dramatic swings...
