Published by:Lisa Gordon<>
5 May 2025 @ 15:26 UTC

US shredders continued to reduce their scale buying prices at a brisk clip as downward pressure mounts for the May domestic ferrous scrap trade.

The Chicago market is especially tired, with its steel producers having indications of a no buy, limited buy or reduced buy from its regular supplier base.
Sellers in Chicago and other regions have voiced concern about being able to place all their tons, as mill demand is not stellar.
A seller in the St Louis region said that the negative outlook suggesting healthy price drops means that they may be starting my accumulation piles for January 2026 a little earlier this year.
In a falling market, sellers will stack up tons and hold some material until the rebound in prices happen.
My mill told me they may buy, but much less, and [they] expect at least down $40 per gross ton, a Texas shredder said. Shredded is the weakest ferrous scrap grade, with some buyers saying it could fall as far as $50 per ton.
The market settlement is also expected to drag out, as mills are not especially hungry and recognize there is plenty of scrap available.
Ironically, in spite of mills warning suppliers to expect reduced opportunities to sell, the mills’ output hit a 2025 record for volume in the week ended April 26, with capacity utilization at 76%.
Finished steel prices are under pressure as well, and Nucor dropped its weekly spot price for hot-rolled coil by $20 per short ton to $910 per ton on Monday May 5, as an example.
Export has not been helping the situation, with a lone Baltic Sea cargo as the only sale to Turkey in the week ended Friday May 2.
US shredder feed prices continued their downward trend, falling across the three regions over the week to Monday. The decline was led a drop of $12.20 per gross ton in the Ohio Valley, while prices in the Midwest fell by $8 per ton and prices in the Southeast fell by $6.31 per ton.
Fastmarkets assessed steel scrap shredder feed, fob Midwest down by 3.81% to $202.09 per ton on Monday, from $210.09 per ton on April 28, bringing the price back to where it was on February 10. (8.00)
The weekly steel scrap shredder feed, fob Ohio Valley assessment fell by 6.67% to $170.68 per ton on Monday, from $182.88 per ton previously, bringing the price back to January levels. (12.20)
And Fastmarkets’ steel scrap shredder feed, fob Southeast assessment dropped by 4.24% to $142.34 per ton on Monday, from $148.65 per ton on April 28, reaching September 2024 levels. (6.31)