Scrap prices despite tight supply and positive sentiments, seem to have hit the peak and corrections were witnessed last week. Market players have become quite cautious on sustainability of such high levels in the last few days of the last week and offers were reported to have come down by USD 10 per tonne to USD 15 per tonne in some of the markets.
Although, at present the scrap prices are well supported by high price levels of other input materials like iron ore and pig iron as well as that of finished products in almost all the regions, signals of weakening have been reported at major sources at Black Sea, Europe and US.
Domestic price levels of steel in China, after surging for more than 6 weeks, have also showed some signs of cooling off in last few days of previous week. The surge in Indian domestic steel prices has also cooled down a bit. Although steel prices in other regions remain unabated, coming weeks will show the level of real demand and set the tone for scrap prices.