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(AMM) Ferrous scrap tags seen rising again this month

April 01, 2010 - 22:53 GMT Location: PHILADELPHIA

KEYWORDS: ferrous scrap

Ferrous scrap prices are expected to move upward in April for the fifth consecutive month, although domestic steel mill operating rates have inched up much more slowly over the same period.

The anticipated price increases could bring domestic market scrap tags to $500 a long ton or higher for some industrial grades and more than $400 a ton for shredded scrap, several industry sources said. This would put prices at the second-highest levels in history, surpassed only by the $900-a-ton buying binges seen in the first half of 2008 for industrial scrap grades.

The last time domestic market prices declined was November, when the AMM No. 1 heavy melting steel scrap composite fell to $221 a ton from $248 in October. Since then, the benchmark heavy melt price has climbed steadily to reach an average of $334 a ton in March.

Actual buying for April has been limited thus far, one Pittsburgh-area broker said. One electric furnace steelmaker in Ohio has bought shredded at an average of $425 a ton, and brokers in western Pennsylvania have paid $515 a ton for...

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