Transaction activity in the Turkish import scrap market has been quiet over the past week, while Turkish producers' scrap stocks are on the high side. In the past seven days, a Turkish steel producer has opened a scrap tender and has concluded an ex-Baltic deal at the average price level of $386/mt CFR for I/II 80:20 scrap, shredded scrap, grade scrap and busheling scrap. The price level in question is $3-4/mt lower than the previous ex-Baltic scrap deal. Meanwhile, no new scrap deal has been heard since the beginning of the week.
Turkish producers state that they are only evaluating offers at attractive prices due to their high stock levels. On the other hand, scrap suppliers are not willing to lower their current prices, though they still have scrap cargos in hand. Market sources state that, for all the reasons above, the Turkish import scrap market has remained quiet.
Demand for scrap in the European market is expected to rise in the coming days as Europe-based steel producers return from the summer holiday. Additionally, scrap prices in the local US market for September purchases are predicted to increase by 5-10/mt compared to the prices in August. As demand in the domestic US and European markets is expected to increase and as demand for finished steel is expected to rise in the middle of September, scrap suppliers in these regions are not willing to lower their prices for the Turkish market.
On the other hand, Turkish producers continue to negotiate with suppliers for their remaining scrap cargos and it is thought that there may be new deals if they succeed in achieving their desired prices.