Quarterly Report – July 2021

Domestic steel mills have raised their July furnace feed prices by an average of 6 to 8% on basic grades, mirroring the increases seen in resurgent export markets at the beginning of the month. However, a disparity still exists between prices in the domestic market and those obtainable by UK exporters to numerous destinations.

At the time of writing, however, there appears to be a stand-off between exporters and largest buyer Turkey: exporters are resisting lower offers and buyers are holding firm. Although some cargoes have been negotiated at slightly reduced levels in recent days, demand remains bullish and world consumption forecasts are seemingly outstripping the ferrous supply market.

UK scrap has continued to trade in pleasing volumes, although there are signs of the normal seasonal slowdown. Container availability issues, higher freight costs and a general shortage of lorry drivers within the UK are further affecting both the domestic and export transport infrastructure. There are also signs of higher inflation filtering through; how this is managed by world economies in the long term will be of concern to everyone

One worrying development for the whole recycling industry concerns proposals being put forward within Europe by the European steel association Eurofer which BIR must oppose if we are to ensure that our free access to global trade continues unhindered.