Turkish mills’ ex-Europe scrap procurement prices have remained stable this week, though it is also seen that collection prices in the EU are rising. Although these diverse trends have raised some questions, Turkish market players do not think a price increase is possible for ex-EU scrap for now.
SteelOrbis has learned that an ex-Netherlands deal has been done by an Iskenderun-based mill with HMS I/II 80:20 scrap standing at $346/mt CFR, the same level recorded in last week’s ex-EU bookings. The deal is reported to have been done on Monday, July 31.
Also, an ex-Venezuela transaction was done by another Iskenderun-based producer yesterday, August 1, consisting of 26,000 mt of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $346.5/mt CFR, for shipment in August.
Two European scrap exporters have increased their collection prices by €10/mt this week to €380/mt DAP. Market players believe that this move was made to secure the tonnages needed for previous commitments. “€370/mt DAP was not working and now levels around €375/mt are not attracting any tonnages either. European domestic scrap prices are not moving down,” a source in the region said. Considering the collection prices, European scrap exporters were already finding it difficult to meet the desired levels of the Turkish mills. “Already, they [European scrap exporters] have slowed down their domestic scrap procurements due to these difficulties,” a scrap supplier reported. From now on, some resistance may be observed for this origin in terms of price. However, the situation in Turkey has not changed much. Steel demand is still sluggish. There is no hope for a recovery in the short term. Many market players believe that deep sea scrap prices seem to have hit the bottom for now. “But there are not rising either. If the energy costs of Turkish mills had increased as anticipated this month, it would have exerted some pressure on the scrap market. But the price increase has been postponed,” a Baltic scrap seller commented. Scrap demand coming from Turkish mills is not expected to gain pace under the current circumstances. As a result, Turkey’s import scrap market is expected to remain stable for now.
Short sea scrap prices are still in the range of $320-325/mt CFR for ex-Romania HMS I/II 80:20 scrap. “There is almost no demand for this grade. The market is quite silent,” a short sea scrap seller commented.