The strength of the ferrous scrap market has caught nearly everyone off-guard, with earlier predictions that the market had another $30-40 per gross ton to rise following the close of the November trade proving to be well below the actual settlements.
When prices settled for December, the Midwest market was up by $70-90 per ton, depending on when the sale occurred, how much was sold and the grade of scrap.
December 2020 marks one for the history books and exceeds records set in the March 2010 trade, when No1 busheling increased by $70 per ton to $470 per ton.
Raw materials used by hot-rolled coil mills - which include plate and structural scrap, shredded scrap, No1 busheling and No1 bundles - performed the best.
“There was a bifurcation over whether or not you can make coil out of...
