en.Wedoany.com Reported - US scrap steel spot purchase prices remained stable from late May through the first three weeks of June, with overall levels largely unchanged since February of this year.
Transaction data from the Raw Material Data Aggregation Service (RMDAS), operated by Pittsburgh-based MSA, shows that buyer quotes for all benchmark grades of scrap steel rose by no more than $3 per ton during the most recent 30-day procurement cycle. From January 21, 2026, to June 20, the national average payment price for the RMDAS Prompt Industrial Composite grade—which includes No. 1 shredded scrap, No. 1 bundles, and No. 1 factory bundles—has fluctuated within a narrow range of $465 to $471 per ton.
RMDAS also publishes monthly average prices for two obsolete scrap grades: No. 2 shredded scrap and No. 1 Heavy Melting Steel (HMS). In the most recent 30-day cycle, the price of No. 1 HMS rose by $3 per ton month-over-month, while steel mills paid an average of $1 more per ton nationwide for shredded scrap.
In early April of this year, prices for these two grades declined after winter weather receded in affected regions of the US, but they have remained in a narrow trading range since late April. RMDAS divides the market into three geographic regions: South, North Central Midwest, and North Central/East. In the current month-to-date statistics, only the North Central/East region saw a decline in prices for the three benchmark grades, with spot scrap falling by $1 per ton.
The most notable price movement in the previous 30 days occurred in the RMDAS Southern region, where spot scrap rose by $6 per ton. This region covers Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and parts of Virginia.
For scrap producers and processors trying to gauge the direction of quotes for the July procurement period, market information from export destinations may offer little positive outlook. According to pricing service Davis Index, scrap steel quotes in Turkey—the largest buyer of US scrap—and Mexico have both declined and resulted in completed transactions. At the end of the third week of June, a Turkish buyer completed a bulk HMS transaction, paying $5 per metric ton less to a US shipper than in the previous comparable bulk deal. In Mexico, Davis Index reported that steel mills' domestic scrap purchase prices have also declined and led to transactions. Regarding cross-border trade between the US and Mexico, the service noted that prices have "stabilized, creating room for improved trade between the two regions. However, overall market sentiment remains cautious."
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