Pittsburgh (Platts)--5Dec2012/551 pm EST/2251 GMT

The US Midwest scrap market has been mostly flat this week as sellers have been able to avoid declines seen in Northeast prices, market sources said Wednesday.

Three bulk scrap cargoes booked this week at $380/mt CFR Turkey -- down $15/mt from last week -- helped drive down pricing $10-15/lt throughout the Northeast and East Coast regions. But attempts by Midwest steel mills to do the same were resisted by sellers and prices were ultimately flat for most grades in most of the region's cities.

Platts shredded scrap assessment remained at $382-387/lt delivered Midwest mill.

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"It was a bit of a battle getting it done. There was some initial mill activity trying to get it to drop," one Midwest scrap dealer said. "If it was going to drop, yards would offer less scrap. Mills decided they would rather have the tons, but I wouldn't say everywhere is sideways."

Sources said they believe some mills may re-enter the market before Christmas. A number of steel producers are expected to slow production around December 21, just prior to the holiday.

"Some mills might be on the wrong side of their inventory and get nervous before Christmas," one source said.

--Nicholas Tolomeo, nicholas_tolomeo@platts.com
--Edited by Jeff Barber, jeff_barber@platts.com

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