Having seen lively activity last week, the Turkish import scrap market has continued to witness improved activity in the current week. As of mid-March, US scrap suppliers had withdrawn their offers from the Turkish market. The US suppliers had been anticipated to return to the market with offers at $385-390/mt CFR, which were expected to gain acceptance from buyers. As expected, US suppliers have returned to the market in the past week with offers at the predicted levels. Early in the past week, an ex-US scrap booking was concluded in Turkey for 25,000 mt of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $388/mt CFR and 20,000 mt of bonus grade scrap at $401.5/mt CFR. A second ex-US scrap deal was concluded on Friday, April 11 for 17,000 mt of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $383/mt CFR, 4,000 mt of shredded scrap at $388/mt CFR and 11,000 mt of bonus grade scrap at the level of $393/mt CFR. Several scrap bookings from the US have been concluded in Turkey since last week, with transaction prices indicating a decline of $3/mt.
On the other hand, Turkish steelmakers have continued to book import scrap from Europe and the Baltic region in the past week. The latest ex-Europe deal has been concluded for 30,000 mt of HMS I/II 75:25 scrap and 5,000 mt of shredded scrap at the average of $395/mt CFR, and for 5,000 mt of HMS I scrap at $398.5/mt CFR. Meanwhile, the most recent ex-Baltic scrap transaction has been concluded for 15,000 mt of HMS I/II 80:20 at $382/mt CFR, 8,000 mt of shredded scrap at $387/mt CFR and 2,000 mt of bonus grade scrap at $392/mt CFR. Transaction levels have softened by $3/mt week on week. There are plenty of ex-Baltic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap deals in the range of $380-385/mt CFR available in the market.
Although US scrap suppliers have tried to keep their offers at $385-390/mt CFR, resistance by Turkish buyers has contributed to the softening of prices. In addition, slack demand in finished steel markets and the relief gained in terms of inventory levels by Turkish mills after recent scrap bookings have provided some support for the stance of the Turkish mills. Import scrap deals at $375-380/mt CFR are expected to be concluded in Turkey during the week.