New York (Platts)--3Jan2011/648 pm EST/2348 GMT
The Platts price assessment for US heavy melting scrap rose $10/lt to a new midpoint of $415/lt delivered to East Coast docks Monday. However, the Platts assessment for shredded scrap was unchanged Monday at a midpoint of $465/lt delivered to Midwest mills as deals were few and far between Monday, although action is expected later in the week. A Northeast dealer said the latest bids from exporters were now at $420/lt delivered to East Coast docks for heavy melting scrap No. 1, $10 higher than on December 29. With January domestic mill pricing for heavy melt expected to land at $430-440/lt delivered or higher, however, exporters have had trouble competing on price to secure material, according to multiple sources. The Northeast scrap dealer said he expects the shredded price for January to come in "somewhere between $450/lt and $500/lt" and that the market should settle toward the end of the week. He said he has already shipped 10,000 lt of material to a local mill customer, with pricing to be determined next week once prices have firmed up. Another Northeast scrap dealer previously said that with shredder feed as high as $345/st into the yards, processed shredded scrap prices could approach $500/lt delivered. Shredder feed is mainly comprised of auto hulks from wreckers, but can also include appliances, the sheet steel in which has high iron content, and other forms of obsolete steel scrap. One Midwest scrap buyer said he expected trading to begin on Tuesday or Wednesday and that shredded sales should take place within the Platts range of $460-470/lt delivered. The market is being driven by a constrained supply side, at least partially due to weather, and players' own lofty pricing expectations, he said. --Matthew Lerner, matthew_lerner@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Steel Markets Daily. See more information at http://bit.ly/SteelMarketsDaily