Turkey’s import scrap market has experienced a very silent week after last week’s fast procurement round. There are 25 confirmed deals done since the month of December started, at least seven of them are for February shipments. There are still offers in the market from all seller regions, hence Turkish mills are relaxed. As a result, Turkish producers started to exert pressure on deep sea scrap offers, the impact is yet to be seen.
SteelOrbis has heard that a Belgium-based exporter has shared bids with sub-collectors for HMS I/II 70:30 scrap at €335/mt DAP, HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at €342.5/mt DAP and E3 scrap at €355/mt DAP. Some of the exporters tested the market with lower price levels, failing to find what they need due to the low allocation ahead of the holidays. Meanwhile, some sales from Germany to export yards were done this week for HMS I/II 70:30 scrap at €327.5-330/mt DAP, HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at €335/mt DAP and E3 scrap at €347.5/mt DAP. With the euro-dollar exchange rate still standing at 1.095, European exporters may not have much room to reduce their offers to Turkey in the short term. On the other hand, some suppliers think future trend of the prices may be downwards and there is not much demand coming out of the alternative markets, such as India. It is also observed that the scrap quotations delivered to US ports are rising.
Under the current conditions, the deep sea benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in CFR terms have remained stable week on week. The prices are now 11.71 percent higher month on month in the deep sea segment, with prices being in the range of $421-428/mt CFR.
Scrap market sources close to SteelOrbis have confirmed that prime grade scrap prices in the US have settled up by $90/gt in Detroit, up $80/gt in Chicago, up $70/gt in the Ohio Valley, and by up $50/gt in the Northeast and Southeast. This is vastly different than sources’ initial prediction that the market would settle up by approximately $30/gt on primes.
SteelOrbis has learned that the current price for Mexican domestic shredded scrap is still at MXN 8,250/mt ($461/mt), unchanged in pesos since last week. Additionally, HMS I/II scrap prices are now being heard at MXN 6,900/mt ($386/mt), compared to MXN 6,850/mt ($384/mt) a week ago.
After a particularly lively November and early December, the local Italian scrap market has been relatively quiet this week, with prices stable compared to two weeks ago and local traders focusing on deliveries of material ordered under previously closed deals. However, some tension remains due to the imbalance between supply and demand. Expectations for January are of a strong market. Moreover, market participants do not expect scrap supply to improve substantially in the short term, and this prolonged tension could lead to further increases.
Taiwan’s domestic rebar market is once again silent following the previous sales going on for weeks. Offers for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers to Taiwan have increased over the past week to $380-393/mt CFR. Japanese scrap suppliers are sharing offers for H1/2 (50:50) scrap by bulk to Taiwan at $393-405/mt CFR.
As Vietnam continues to import scrap, higher Japanese offers are causing caution amongst market players. Ex-US scrap offers relatively remain stable for containerized and bulk cargoes, but appreciating Japanese yen has caused ex-Japan scrap quotations to move up again this week. Ex-US containerized HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices are at $385/mt CFR Vietnam, $5/mt higher on the lower end week on week. Indications for ex-US West Coast HMS I/II 80:20 offers for bulk cargoes to Vietnam are still at around $430/mt CFR. Deals for Japanese H2 grade scrap to Vietnam were closed at around $391/mt CFR.
SteelOrbis’ reference price for ex-Japan H2 scrap has remained stable at JPY 51,000-53,000/mt ($360-374/mt) FOB. However, the appreciation of the Japanese yen resulted in $7/mt increase in dollar-based quotations over the past week.
South Korean producer POSCO shared bids for Japanese scrap, increasing them by JPY 500-1,000/mt week on week. SteelOrbis has learned that South Korean POSCO has shared bids for Japanese HS scrap at JPY 58,000/mt ($409/mt) CFR, JPY 500/mt higher than the producers’ bids last week.
Global scrap suppliers have remained bullish in their offers to Bangladesh this week. In the containerized segment, most offers have been on the rise this week. Specifically, offers for shredded scrap from EU/UK and Australia have been voiced at $440-445/mt CFR, against $435/mt CFR last week, while offers for PNS scrap have been heard $450-455/mt CFR, up by $10/mt week on week, with a few deals for around 3,000-5,000 mt have been signed at abovementioned level this week. Meanwhile, after a very long pause in purchases for bulk scrap, this week talks about ex-US order for around 32,000 mt at $432/mt CFR for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap, at $437/mt CFR for shredded and $442/mt CFR for bonus scrap have been circulating in the market.
In Pakistan, import scrap offers have moved up this week due to the continued bullishness of global scrap suppliers. Besides, despite still slow local finished steel sales and delays in opening letters of credit (LCs), more import scrap restocking has been reported in Pakistan this week as most customers are afraid of further price hikes. Several deal for ex-Europe shredded scrap in containers have been reported at $433-435/mt CFR, versus deal prices at $415-418/mt CFR last week. Meanwhile, new offers for ex-EU/UK shredded scrap have been voiced at $435-438/mt CFR, up by around $15/mt week on week. Besides, offers for ex-Dubai HMS grade scrap have been heard at $385/mt CFR.