Published by:Geoff Mattson<>
30 Apr 2025 @ 18:25 UTC

US ferrous scrap export activity remained muted during the week to Wednesday April 30, with no fresh East Coast cargoes reported and West Coast sales reflecting continued pressure from weak Asian demand and limited global steel buying interest, sources told Fastmarkets.

West Coast prices fell notably, largely influenced by a recent cargo sale to Bangladesh that emerged late in the previous week.
The deal, concluded between April 18 and April 20 and confirmed by Fastmarkets on April 24, was finalized at $350 per tonne CFR for heavy melting scrap No1 and No2 (80:20), $355 per tonne CFR for shredded scrap, and $360 per tonne CFR for bonus-grade material.
Although this price was marginally above the $347-348 per tonne CFR for HMS 1&2 (80:20) and $357-358 per tonne CFR for plate and structural scrap paid by a Vietnamese buyer earlier on April 17, significantly higher freight rates to Bangladesh — around $68 per tonne compared with approximately $38 per tonne to Vietnam — resulted in a much lower FOB West Coast value.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), export index, fob Los Angeles dropped sharply by 8.89% week-on-week, landing at $282.00 per tonne FOB on Wednesday April 30.
Market participants said the recent Bangladesh purchases, which totaled four cargoes from multiple origins, including the US West Coast, reflected two conflicting views on current buying trends.
Some sources suggested mills were taking advantage of lower prices to offset earlier high-priced cargoes, effectively averaging down their overall scrap costs. Others described the buying as genuine restocking ahead of the peak construction season in Bangladesh — though this remained debated among sellers.
Trading on the East Coast, meanwhile, remained quiet, with no fresh deep-sea cargoes reported since three sales were confirmed on April 23. The deals ranged $325-330 per tonne CFR for HMS 1&2 (80:20), with shredded scrap sold at $345-350 per tonne CFR, and were concluded with buyers based in the Izmir and Iskenderun regions.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), export index, fob New York held steady at $301.00 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week-on-week.
Turkish steelmakers stepped back from deep-sea purchasing after securing around 16 cargoes earlier this month. The most recent transactions reported to Turkey were European cargoes completed on April 24 at $315-320 per tonne CFR for HMS 1&2 (80:20), underscoring lingering downward pressure in the deep-sea market amid limited finished steel sales.
Market sources, however, noted early signs of improvement in Turkey’s domestic finished steel markets this week, following a successful billet tender from Kardemir for approximately 44,550 tonnes concluded at $485-495 per tonne ex-works. Additionally, major long steel mills in the Iskenderun region cautiously lifted rebar offers by around 200 lira per tonne (approximately $8 per tonne), indicating cautious optimism after several weeks of downward pressure.
Despite these modest domestic improvements, Turkish mills remained mostly inactive in the international scrap market so far this week, sources said.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index remained subdued below the key 100-mark, quoted at 99.30 at the time of publication on April 30, following weaker-than-expected US gross domestic product data.
Meanwhile, the Turkish lira softened slightly to 38.48 against the US dollar amid cautious anticipation ahead of new economic policy announcements from Turkey’s central bank and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recent Labor Day discussions around labor policy and economic strategies.
In Asia, sentiment was further dampened by slowing iron ore and rebar demand ahead of China’s Labor Day holiday, prompting buyers in the region to remain cautious and to await clearer signals post-holiday, sources told Fastmarkets on April 30.