<article><p class="lead">US monthly domestic ferrous scrap trading kicked off Thursday morning with Detroit-area mills bidding prime and obsolete grades up $20/gt from the prior month for February deliveries.</p><p>The bids, if realized, would lift Detroit #1 busheling prices to $440/gt delivered mill, shredded scrap prices to $440/gt, P&amp;S 5ft to $395/gt and #1 HMS to $350/gt. Machine shop turnings price indications are expected to emerge later.</p><p>Some market participants were surprised by the relatively early bid announcement by Detroit mills, though an upward move was largely anticipated this month driven by tighter scrap availability, firm demand, higher hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices and robust export activity.</p><p>A February price increase would buck historical trends for the month, which has traditionally sees flat-to-down prices. February is traditionally the slowest collection month of the year largely because of colder temperatures and snow in west, Midwest and northeast regions.</p><p>US steelmakers continued to attempt to push minimum base spot HRC prices higher on Thursday, with integrated steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs raising asking prices by $50/st to $850/st. </p><p>The move follows similar increases announced in recent weeks by other major US steelmakers.</p><p>US spot HRC prices rose through January as steelmakers hiked offers with the <i>Argus</i> weekly domestic US HRC Midwest assessment at $781.25/st, up $98/st from early-January.</p><p>Robust export activity has also helped to support US obsolete grade prices this month.</p><p>The <i>Argus</i> daily HMS 1/2 80:20 cfr Turkey steel scrap assessment rose to $425/metric tonne (t) cfr on Wednesday, up $23/t from a mid-month low and up nearly $8/t from the second week of January when the domestic trade began last month.</p><p>US-specific shipments to Turkey for February/early-March shipment surged over the last month with at least 16 deep-sea vessels recorded by <i>Argus</i>, totaling an estimated 460,000t.</p><p>It is unclear whether other regions will follow in lockstep with the Detroit bid levels with some market participants, noting that prime grades could be poised for further upside in other regions.</p></article>
