The US export scrap market has been extremely quiet in the last week with little activity and falling prices. On the US East Coast, US HMS I/II prices delivered to the pier on the East Coast fell from $350/mt to $340/mt about a week ago, but that hasn't been enough to encourage Turkish mills to buy cargos from the US. Exporter sources tell SteelOrbis that while Turkey has a need for scrap at the moment, concern about a stronger US dollar has sent Turkish mills to Europe to fulfill their scrap needs. Current scrap export offers off the US East Coast to Turkey are about $405/mt CFR for HMS I/II and $410/mt CFR for shredded scrap--little changed over the last couple weeks-- but Turkish mills are waiting to place orders in anticipation that prices could fall, especially if US domestic scrap prices weaken next month.
On the US West Coast, exporters are struggling with selling scrap cargos to mills in Taiwan, Korea, China or Vietnam. A bulk scrap cargo was sold to Korea about a week or so ago at $425/mt CFR, but Korean mills have since been looking to push prices down at least another $15/mt CFR, a number to which exporters have been unwilling to agree. Meanwhile, the most recent container scrap sales to Taiwan were sold for $370-$375/mt, down about $15/mt from previous prices a week or so ago. Even at the lower price, however, only a few cargos were sold this past week. Like Turkey, Asian mills are looking to other sources to secure scrap at the moment.