The US scrap export market has remained quiet moving into the last week of May, as no major tons have been booked over the past week.
Turkish producers have been out of the US scrap market even though offer prices dropped below the $400/mt to $395/mt mark mid-week. This decrease in price was not enough to entice Turkish producers back into the market as it was felt that $395/mt was still well above expected buying levels. Although, some industry professionals are expecting a sideways to upward trend next month in the US domestic market, there is a feeling by several Turkish producers that the US market may have bottomed out. Additionally, with Turkish scrap inventory levels being as low they are, and taking into account the current production rates, it is expected that ex-US scrap activity to Turkey should resume in the coming weeks.
Activity in the Far East has all but ceased. Offers of ex-US material to Chinese producers has been heard at the level of $400-$410/mt CFR HMS I/II 80:20 Bulk, however, there has been no activity. At the same time, bookings of containerized scrap to the smaller Far Eastern markets have also slowed considerably. With prices of ex-US containerized scrap dropping over the past few weeks, international markets have been reluctant to finalize transactions. Current offer prices for ex-US containerized HMS I/II has been heard at $385-$395/mt CFR Korea and $380-$390/mt CFR Taiwan, down $10-$20/mt from early this month.