Having delayed their scrap bookings and coming together with the scrap suppliers last week at the SteelOrbis Spring 08 Conference & 58th IREPAS Meeting in order to understand better the suppliers' vision, the Turkish mills resumed their scrap purchases just after the conference. It was seen in last week's bookings that prices even indicated an increase at the end of the week compared to the start of the week in question. As we reported in our raw materials price reports, in the ex-deep sea scrap booking heard towards the end of last week, the price for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap soared up to the level of $624.5/mt CFR Turkey. On the first day of the current week, in another ex-deep sea scrap booking for May shipment, the price for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap stood at the level of $634/mt CFR Turkey, shredded scrap stood at $639/mt CFR Turkey and bonus grade scrap was at $644/mt CFR Turkey.
The soaring scrap prices caused by the robust demand registered for scrap in the global markets have also been triggering the domestic market in the US, as well as that in Europe. Despite prices in the US domestic market having already soared to a certain extent, the prevalent expectation is that the prices in this market will mark a further increase of at least $35/mt. The offers for shredded scrap stand at around $645/mt CFR in Europe. In the latest ex-deep sea bookings concluded in Indonesia, prices have reached the level of $668/mt CFR.
It is estimated that scrap prices for the Turkish market will mark a slight increase towards the end of this week and that the prices for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap will reach the level of $640/mt CFR.
The general uptrend is also reflected in the prices for ex-Black Sea scrap. Due to the increased consumption of scrap in the Russian domestic market, the Russian government is considering imposing special measures to reduce scrap exports. Following last week's A3 grade scrap bookings, in which prices reached the range of $615-620/mt CFR, this week's offers stand at around $625/mt CFR.