Having recorded a quiet start to the past week in terms of import activity, the Turkish scrap market has closed the week with some import bookings. The struggle between Turkish steelmakers, who had been postponing their purchases and waiting for import scrap prices to soften, and scrap suppliers, who had been resisting and seeking to maintain unchanged prices, had lasted for about two weeks. However, the Turkish buyers came out on top in the middle of last week, successfully obtaining reductions in deep sea scrap prices.
A deal for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap has been concluded in Turkey in the past week at $374/mt CFR, with transaction prices indicating a decline of $4-6/mt as compared to prices seen two weeks ago. Meanwhile, a Turkish producer has concluded a booking for an ex-Baltic mixed scrap cargo at the average price level of $377/mt CFR early this week.
With no shortages in their scrap inventories, Turkish producers are not in a rush to conclude new scrap bookings and instead prefer to wait for import quotations to decline further to $370-374/mt CFR. In the meantime, the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine has worsened, increasing concerns that import billet supplies from the country to Turkey will be affected. The presidential election in Ukraine on May 25 will be important for political stability in the county. In addition, there will be a referendum held by pro-Russia supporters on May 11 in Donetsk where tensions have been increasing. After these elections, the political situation in the country is expected to be clarified with a likely knock-on impact on the scrap price trend.