As the international scrap market starts a new week, a deal to Turkey done on Friday, May 9, has been confirmed, increasing deep sea scrap prices further by a slight margin.
The booking was done by a Marmara-based Turkish steel producer for ex-St. Petersburg HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $340/mt CFR, with bonus grade at $360/mt CFR. This price is $2.5/mt higher than the previous level anticipated for ex-Baltic deals following the ex-US transactions done last week. As a result, in addition to the change in SteelOrbis’ reference price for ex-Baltic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap, the ex-US price for the same grade has increased to $340/mt CFR. Ex-Europe scrap prices are now expected to indicate a slow uptrend, while the euro-US dollar exchange rate at 1.11 may also be more favorable to European sellers.
Another deal has surfaced today, May 12, which was transacted earlier than the ex-St. Petersburg. The ex-Netherlands booking in question was done by an Iskenderun-based producer at $334/mt CFR for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap. Market sources report that this deal may have been done on Monday or Tuesday last week.
Turkey’s import scrap market is expected to remain lively this week. Once again, market sources report that the number of offers may be higher than the number of buyers, limiting the upward trend of prices. “Turkish mills are maintaining their composed stance. We have not seen them back in full force in the market since May started,” a scrap seller commented. Turkish mills have started the week with price increases for local rebar sales. Although this upward push on prices has been met with resistance from buyers in past weeks, it nevertheless has slowly but surely been gaining some success. Meanwhile, the global markets have rebounded after the US and Chinese governments reached a deal in reducing the retaliatory tariffs they had imposed on each other, following a series of negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland. Consequently, the US and China will roll back their tariffs on each other from 145 percent to 30 percent and from 125 percent to 10 percent, respectively, for an initial 90 days beginning on May 14.