Expectations of further scrap price increases for the period after Ramadan, following the uptrend observed in previous weeks, have lately begun to emerge, as Turkish steel mills have been focusing their attention on export markets with offers which have been gaining increased acceptance in those markets. In the Turkish import scrap market, where only a few transactions have been heard and where prices have trended sideways in the past two weeks, reports of an ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 transaction at $370-373/mt CFR have been heard today, July 23. While ex-US offers to Turkey for HMS I/II 80:20 are now hovering at $370-375/mt CFR, the last ex-US scrap transaction to Turkey two weeks ago had been concluded at $366/mt CFR. In the meantime, ex-UK HMS I/II 80:20 offers to Turkey are currently standing at $360-365/mt CFR.
It is known that Turkish mills have largely completed their scrap purchases for August, while their scrap demand for September is expected to be high if their rebar export activity increases.
In the Black Sea market, ex-Romania A3 scrap offers to Turkey are at $350-355/mt CFR and Russian offers to Turkey are at $360/mt CFR. Some ex-Romania A3 scrap transactions to Turkey have been reported at $355/mt CFR, while scrap availability in Romania is reported to be tight and thus scrap collection prices there have reached $330/mt CFR, bringing scrap suppliers' price idea for Turkey to the levels of $355-360/mt CFR.