Export bulk and container scrap prices out of the US have continued to sink as interest from most typical destinations has declined. On the US East Coast, bulk export activity to Turkey has been non-existent this past week, and extremely minimal for the majority of May. While Turkish mills continue to occasionally bid on scrap cargos from the US, they aren't buying much, and have instead sourced some of their needs from Europe, as well as domestically as local scrap collection has recently improved. Further, Turkish mills are instead purchasing HBI from Libya and Russia when prices are attractive and buying billets and slabs from the CIS, bypassing the need for scrap altogether. Further, due to competition from China in some cases, Turkish mills aren't running as full as they had been previously, according to SteelOrbis sources, which has also lessened the mills' scrap needs.
The most recent ex-US export scrap cargo to Turkey was sold at approximately $350/mt CFR for HMS I/II over a week ago. New bids out of Turkey have been heard about $5/mt lower, although there has been no confirmation that scrap was sold at the lower prices. Export scrap prices off the US West Coast have also come down in the last couple of weeks. Container activity is currently minimal and the most recent bulk HMS I/II cargo to Taiwan was sold at approximately $360/mt CFR, down about $5/mt over sales about two weeks ago. Bids out of South Korea and China to the US for bulk scrap are at similar levels of about $360-$365/mt CFR, but few bids are translating into cargos sold.