As anticipated by SteelOrbis, deep sea scrap prices in Turkey have moved down by around $10/mt following the recent silence in the market. Turkish mills’ strategy of taking a step back after concluding deals to meet most of their needs for January shipments has been successful. The number of offers in the market remains on the high side.
An ex-US scrap cargo has been bought by an Istanbul-based producer with HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $419/mt CFR, indicating a $9/mt decline from the previous deals.
Several ex-Europe deals were also done late last week. The first one was from the UK done by an Iskenderun-based steel producer at $413/mt CFR for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap. The other two were closed by the same producer from the Netherlands, with the price at $410/mt CFR for the benchmark grade scrap. Accordingly, ex-EU scrap prices have declined by $11.5/mt.
The workable levels for short sea scrap prices for ex-Romania HMS I/II 80:20 scrap are at around $390s/mt CFR, SteelOrbis hears. SteelOrbis observes that some Turkish mills are seeking to buy short sea scrap in the coming period before concluding deep sea scrap bookings to maintain their downward pressure on deep sea quotations.
While most scrap supplying regions are on holiday, there are still at least eight scrap offers to Turkey. Since the buyers of the abovementioned cargoes are two of the biggest producers, it can be said that the other Turkish steelmakers are inclined to wait before starting another round of scrap purchases. Meanwhile, scrap demand received from Turkey’s competitors such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and India is also muted, with sellers are taking a break for the holiday period. It is also observed that demand in the local Turkish rebar market is stagnant, and most market players report that there is no appetite coming from traders at the higher end of prices. “Considering the wide price range in the market, we are not in a rush to increase our inventories,” a trader commented. Another said, “If the market fails to increase, it probably will fall. That’s what we are seeing in the rebar market now.” Some producers’ workable domestic rebar prices are reported to be at $590-600/mt ex-works today, December 27, signalling a softening of prices.