The Turkish import
scrap market has remained very quiet in the past two weeks. No ex-
US scrap offers have been heard since the beginning of the current month, while only two ex-deep sea
scrap transactions to
Turkey have been reported last week, one from
Europe and other one from St. Petersburg. In the ex-
Europe scrap booking, the price of 14,000 mt of HMS I/II 75:25 was at $351/mt CFR
Turkey and the price of 18,000 mt of P&S
scrap was at $372/mt CFR, while in the ex-St Petersburg deal 30,000 mt of HMS I/II 85:15 was priced at $356/mt CFR
Turkey. Turkish steel mills are not in a hurry to conclude fresh
scrap bookings as their
scrap inventories are still at sufficient levels. However, market sources think that Turkish steelmakers may start their
scrap purchases for April towards the end of the current month and that
scrap bookings may revive eventually.
On the other hand, with iron ore prices dropping $12/mt within a week, declining to $105/mt CFR for 63.5 percent iron content, the downtrend in Chinese finished steel export prices is expected to continue. Moreover, it is also thought that lower Chinese finished steel export prices may further weaken foreign demand for Turkish finished steel export offers.
Although the general expectation in the marketplace suggests that
US scrap suppliers will make upward adjustments in their
scrap offers to Turkish steel mills, higher
scrap offers may not find enough support to gain acceptance if the pessimistic outlook for
Turkey's finished steel exports prevails.