European scrap prices gained some ground with the most recently heard deal. The gap between ex-US and ex-EU scrap prices have narrowed once again. It was already observed that US-based suppliers were somewhat aggressive with their sales to Turkey, not much in terms of prices but in terms of tonnages reserved for Turkey.
An Iskenderun-based producer has bought the ex-France cargo, with HMS I/II 80:20 and shredded-bonus grade scraps standing at $373/mt CFR and $393/mt CFR, respectively. This booking was concluded on Friday, September 22. Previous ex-EU deals were done at $367-368/mt CFR.
With the transaction abovementioned, the price gap between scrap supplier regions have declined to $2/mt. Ex-US scrap bookings were done at $375/mt CFR Turkey, ex-Baltic deal standing at $374/mt CFR. Whether this trend can be sustained in the coming days or now shall be monitored since this is not something observed frequently. Although most players in the US think that domestic scrap prices will remain stable in October, concerns about the UAW strike continues and the hot rolled coil prices are monitored closely. Meanwhile, demand in the local Turkish rebar market is not recovering. According to a trader in Marmara region, “Every time we think prices may move up, we realise that there is no support in the demand side. While Turkish mills mostly increase their official quotations for the local market, one comes and gives discounts for actual deals. Hence, I believe expecting a rebound in demand would be false.” The impact of Russia’s billet export tax had no real impact for now. While no new deals from Russia have been confirmed since the decision, the indicative prices remain at $515-525/mt CFR.