US scrap export prices have softened slightly in the last two weeks, as demand from both Turkish and Far Eastern producers has slowed.
Turkish domestic finished products prices have been declining over the past few weeks, resulting in a drop in scrap buying activity until last week when Turkish producers returned to the market and booked several scrap cargoes from Europe. Additionally, Turkish producers concluded a US scrap booking toward the end of last week at approximately $475/mt CFR, a slight drop from the $480/mt level reported two weeks ago. As the Ramadan holiday is coming up in August, it is expected that Turkish producers will need to purchase scrap and secure their scrap inventories in July.
As for scrap exports to the Far East, demand has stayed relatively stable in the last couple weeks. Ex-US bulk offer scrap prices to China remains at $490 to $500/mt CFR, while ex-US container offer scrap prices to Taiwan have gone sideways to slightly up to the range of $475 to $480/mt CFR. However, no bookings have been concluded at these price levels yet, as domestic producers in Taiwan are looking for lower prices.
On the other hand, US domestic scrap demand remains decent. About three weeks ago, market players were speculating that US domestic scrap prices would go up by as much as $20/lt in July, but considering the slow export market in June, market insiders are now anticipating a sideways to slightly uptrend. If Turkish producers continue scrap purchasing from the US this week, that might support higher levels in US domestic scrap prices for July.