During last week, the import
scrap market in
Turkey was quite lively in terms of transaction activity, while prices generally moved on a stable trend except in the final days of the week. However, Turkish steel producers have been looking for price reductions from import
scrap suppliers. In this context, towards the end of last week, a Turkish steel producer announced a
scrap tender and concluded an ex-St. Petersburg deal for HMS I/II 80:20
scrap at $256/mt CFR, down $4-5/mt as compared to the price level in an ex-St. Petersburg transaction concluded early last week. This deal pointed to a softening of import
scrap prices, which have generally indicated a strong trend in the current month. Meanwhile, at the beginning of the current week, a Turkish steel producer, which had been expected to conclude
scrap purchases since the beginning of this month, finally concluded an ex-Baltic
scrap deal for two HMS I/II 80:20
scrap cargos at $257-258/mt CFR.
Turkish steel producers have concluded many import
scrap deals in the first two weeks of this month and their inventory levels have now almost reached the desired levels. Accordingly, Turkish producers are expected to focus mostly on their finished steel exports in the coming period. On the other hand, looking at the import
scrap deals concluded in
Turkey since the beginning of the month, the purchases have mostly been ex-
Europe and ex-Baltic, with just a few ex-US deals. Suppliers of ex-US
scrap have been quiet after concluding many deals to
Turkey in February and market players are wondering when the US suppliers will return to the Turkish market to conclude deals for April shipments. Although the prices of import
scrap in
Turkey have softened in the deals concluded late last week, some market players think that the price range has not been clarified yet and will be determined by ex-US deals anticipated in the coming period. Besides the downtrend in import
scrap prices, reduced demand is likely to exert pressure on ex-US
scrap offers. Also, it is almost impossible to foresee an improvement in imported
scrap prices in the short term unless Turkish finished steel sales first start to recover.