Metals & Mining Theme, Ferrous, Non-Ferrous

December 20, 2024

LME scrap and rebar volumes down on week as holidays limit market activity

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HIGHLIGHTS

Futures contracts maintain contangos

Spot activity in scrap, rebar markets dwindles amid holiday

Weekly trading volumes for both scrap and rebar futures decreased on the week as the run-up to the winter holiday period limited physical trading activity in the spot market.

Volumes traded for the scrap futures contracts on the London Metal Exchange, which settle basis the Platts assessment from S&P Global Commodity Insights, decreased on the week.

Weekly LME scrap futures trading volumes in the week to Dec. 19 decreased to 158,570 mt, down from 214,370 mt in the week to Dec. 12.

Platts assessed spot prices for physical imports of premium heavy melting scrap 1/2 (80:20) increased by to $350.50/mt CFR Dec. 19, increasing by $4/mt on the week, with market activity reducing in the week to Dec. 19 following a flurry of booked in the week prior which helped prices recover.

Contract month Platts assessed LME scrap forward curve Dec. 12 ($/mt) Platts assessed LME scrap forward curve Dec. 19 ($/mt) Week on week change ($/mt)
December 343.50 345.00 +1.50
January 359.50 354.75 -4.75
February 363.00 356.00 -7.00
March 364.50 360.50 -4.00

The December-March portion of the forward curve for Turkey scrap futures on the London Metal Exchange maintained its contango structure during the week, indicating that futures traders expected Turkish scrap prices in the physical market to increase in the medium term.

Rebar futures volumes traded on the LME also decreased in the week to Dec. 19 as domestic and export rebar sales slowed in the spot market.

Weekly LME rebar futures trading volumes decreased to 4,680 mt in the week to Dec. 19, down from 20,680 mt in the week to Dec. 12.

Contract month Platts assessed LME rebar forward curve Dec. 12 ($/mt) Platts assessed LME rebar forward curve Dec. 19 ($/mt) Week on week change ($/mt)
December 561.50 564.50 +3.00
January 576.50 574.50 -2.00
February 585.50 581.50 -4.00
March 586.50 586.50 0.00

The December-March portion of the forward curve for Turkey rebar futures on the LME maintained a contango structure, indicating that futures traders expect Turkish rebar prices in the physical market to follow an upward trend in the near term.

Platts assessed Turkish exported rebar at $567.50/mt FOB on Dec. 19, up by $2.50/mt on the week from Dec. 12.

Editor:

Namrata Srivastava