Short-dated junk futures contracts on the London Metal Exchange posted gains for the week ended September 22, while weekly trading volume declined. Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, priced the September contract week-over-week by $2.50/mt to $360.50/mt, while the October contract rose $14/mt to $361/mt.

Short term scrap Futures contracts on the London Metal Exchange posted gains for the week ended September 22, while weekly trading volume fell.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, priced the September contract week-over-week by $2.50/mt to $360.50/mt, while the October contract rose $14/mt to $361/mt. The November contract rose $8/mt to $360/mt, while the December contract rose $3.50/mt week-on-week to $358.50/mt.

Backwardation across the September-October portion of the curve shifted into soft contango, suggesting that some futures traders expect physical market junk prices to rise modestly in the near-term.

The October-December portion of the forward curve shifted into backwardation, suggesting that slightly softer prices are expected in the fourth quarter.

Spot prices for physical imports of high quality heavy melt scrap 1/2 (80:20) rose $1/mt week-on-week to $350/mt CFR Turkey on September 22, following a new Baltic-origin deal. Turkish mills were targeting lower scrap imports while sellers were targeting higher prices.

Despite the relatively low volume of domestic finished steel sales and continued weak demand in Turkey, deep sea recyclers have been pushing for significantly higher CFR prices for Turkey in anticipation of some replenishment of Turkish plants and alternative bulk demand to Asia and Latin America.

“All people can say with any certainty is that the downtrend is most likely over, but people can’t predict a stronger market just yet,” said an EU recycler.

Weekly trading volume in LME scrap futures for the week ended September 22nd totaled 53,110 tonnes, versus 100,470 tonnes for the week ended September 15th.

Short term reinforcement futures…