Following the ex-UK scrap booking reported by SteelOrbis earlier this week, an ex-France deal to Turkey has been closed at a similar level, confirming the slight uptrend in ex-Europe prices.
A Marmara-based producer concluded the ex-France transaction for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $359.5/mt CFR. Some market sources report that there is shredded and bonus grade scrap in the cargo bought yesterday, November 5, with a $22/mt premium paid for the higher grades, though this information was not confirmed by the time of publication. The benchmark price recorded in the deal is just $0.5/mt higher than the previous booking, which was from the UK. As a result, SteelOrbis’ ex-EU scrap reference price has increased to $359-359.5/mt CFR, pushing ex-Baltic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices to $360-361/mt CFR. SteelOrbis’ ex-US scrap reference price remains at $362-363/mt CFR due to the lack of recent deals from the Baltic and the US. With this price revision, the gap between ex-EU and ex-US scrap prices remains at around $4/mt, lower than the traditional gap.
As of today, November 6, the bids shared by a Belgium scrap exporter with German sub-collectors are at €285/mt DAP for HMS I/II 70:30 scrap. An Amsterdam-based exporter’s bids for the same grade are at €300/mt DAP, up by €5/mt as compared to the levels recorded a couple of days ago. German sub-collectors have different views about the future trend in their local market. After waiting for the result of the US presidential election, which has resulted in a Trump victory, some market sources believe that the depreciation of the euro against the US dollar may give some room for an increase in exporters’ collection prices. “Due to the new exchange rate, we expect European exporters to increase their domestic scrap purchase prices towards €300/mt DAP next week. This may support the local market,” a German sub-collector said today. However, another German sub-collector said this may not happen. “There is little steel demand in the EU, inevitably exerting pressure on scrap prices. We expect domestic scrap prices to move down by approximately €10/mt in the first round of bookings, maybe further in the second round.” The very slow scrap flow to mills’ or exporters’ yards and the decline in scrap prices reflect the negative economic situation in the EU. Last month, the lack of support in their domestic scrap market and high inventory levels had caused European scrap suppliers to accept Turkish mills’ bids at around $378/mt CFR, triggering a declining price trend again, with the number of European offers increasing within a short time.
Turkey’s Kardemir, having issued its rebar price at $609/mt, excluding VAT, earlier today, closed its rebar sales after a couple of hours. Sources report that the mill succeeded in selling around 40,000 mt of rebar. Most mills in the Marmara and Izmir regions are offering rebar at $610-615/mt ex-works.