As the new week starts, deep sea scrap deals done by Turkish buyers late last week have surfaced in the market, with prices in the deals remaining firm.
An ex-US booking done by a steel producer in Turkey’s Iskenderun region was closed at $355.5/mt CFR for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap. This price is similar to the previous ex-US deal done by the same seller, showing that the ex-US West Coast booking which surprised the market last week has had little impact, as SteelOrbis anticipated.
Meanwhile, a Marmara-based steel producer has concluded a transaction from Sweden with the HMS I/II 80:20 scrap price at $353.5/mt CFR, increasing the ex-Baltic scrap reference price by $0.5/mt on the upper end.
Lastly, another Iskenderun-based steelmaker has bought an ex-Netherlands cargo with HMS I/II 80:20 scrap priced at around $351/mt CFR. As a result, SteelOrbis has raised its reference prices for ex-UK/EU scrap on the upper end by $2/mt to $349-351/mt CFR.
As the week starts, some resistance to further price increases is observed in the deep sea segment, though it is too early to say whether buyers will succeed in their efforts to curb the upward momentum. Some sellers believe there is some small room for an additional price increase, while others say that at least prices are firm and there is no downward potential before Turkey completes its purchases of deep sea scrap cargoes for December shipment. “There are still buyers seeking cargoes, which gives us support to maintain our offer price levels stable,” a European scrap supplier commented today, November 10. Since Turkish mills covered a good amount of ground last week by concluding at least 11 deep sea scrap deals, they still have 20 days to buy cargoes to meet the rest of their needs. Turkish mills are actively concluding finished steel sales, which supports their demand for scrap. While deep sea scrap prices are firm, Turkish mills have also raised their purchase prices for ship scrap and domestic scrap.
