Calm reigns in scrap markets

Calm still reigns this week in the Turkish scrap market, where only a few bookings had been concluded last week. The current calm has dominated the Turkish scrap markets since last week when only a handful of bookings was concluded. The decline in the supply of A3 grade scrap ex-Black Sea still continues, and bookings for A3 grade scrap ex-Black Sea in the Turkish scrap market are almost non-existent. Last week, interesting developments were seen with regard to deep sea scrap. Although overall deep sea offer levels have not declined, the price levels in 2-3 spot cargo sales by UK-based trader European Metal Recycling (EMR) are below the general market level. Among the mills which have purchased scrap from EMR, one has concluded a HMS I/II 80.20 scrap booking ex-deep sea at $270/mt CFR Marmara, while another has concluded a scrap cargo - 50 percent of which is shredded scrap while the other half is HMS I/II 80:20 - ex-deep sea at $274/mt CFR Nemrut. This week, the market is primarily curious about whether other suppliers of deep sea scrap will lower their offers, taking EMR's sales prices into consideration. If a few suppliers decrease their offer levels, it may create an impression in the market that prices are on the decline. Therefore, price levels in this week's bookings will be effective in deciding the direction of the market. There is no expectation in the market that prices will increase. However, it is possible that prices may soften slightly as compared to last week's levels.