Purchases have greatly slowed down in the Turkish scrap market where the price uptrend is still continuing at full steam. Meanwhile, market players are all focusing on the SteelOrbis Spring 08 Conference & 58th IREPAS Meeting which will start this weekend, bringing together both scrap suppliers and steel producers. As regards scrap, huge interest is being registered among producers and trading companies in the conference, at which the major worldwide scrap suppliers will be represented by senior executives.
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In the Turkish scrap market, which saw a very limited amount of activity last week, HMS I/II 70:30 scrap was offered at the level of $547/mt CFR at the beginning of the week and found a buyer at $555/mt CFR Marmara towards the end of the week. Some mills that were seeking to conclude purchases delayed their bookings as they found that the limited offers available were considerably high.
This week, ex-deep sea scrap offers have indicated a slight increase on the back of the soaring freight rates and the expectations for a rise in the European and the US domestic markets. It is heard that ex-deep sea cargoes are being tested at the level of $600/mt in Turkey. However, no booking has been confirmed at this level yet.
Meanwhile, ex-Black Sea A3 grade scrap offers vary in a range of $565-575/mt CFR.
The SteelOrbis Spring 08 Conference & 58th IREPAS Meeting, which will start in Istanbul this weekend, will see lively discussions on the principal issues currently preoccupying market players - e.g. the extent to which scrap prices will soar in the context of the vibrant entry the steel markets have made into 2008, the direction of the longs market, freight rates, as well as the €/$ exchange rate.