Market players in Turkey are wondering whether scrap prices, which have been on a downward trend for a long time now and have declined by approximately $70/mt since early May, have hit the bottom yet. The low levels of current scrap prices have started to affect scrap collection activities negatively and SteelOrbis has heard that in most areas scrap collection has slowed down.
As SteelOrbis has already reported, the latest ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap deal to Turkey had been concluded at $380/mt CFR, with offers today, June 20 standing a little higher than this level, while no offers have remained below the range of $385-390/mt CFR. On the other hand, European scrap suppliers' price idea for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap stands above the level of $370/mt CFR.
Turkish mills' scrap buying activities have not intensified yet, but continue to remain rather slow. Although no revival has started to be seen on the finished steel side, market players' expectations for scrap quotations to hit the bottom seem to have increased, given the sideways trend of scrap quotations since last week and the slowdown of the decrease in finished steel prices.