After the recent pre-Ramadan buying spree by Turkish producers, US scrap exports have since slowed considerably.
As expected, the presence of Turkish interest in the US scrap market has tapered off in the past week as the Ramadan holiday got underway. After reaching a high offer price of $400/mt CFR , in the past seven days, prices have been reported as having retreated to $385-$390/mt CFR.
The impact that the Turkish transactions had on the US market, however, continues to linger. The rise in US export scrap prices (together with tight domestic supplies) helped keep upward pressure on the US domestic market. Even with the absence of heavy US scrap export activity as of late, sources are indicating that US domestic prices are expected to maintain a sideways to upward $20/lt trend in September- due mostly in part to tight supply.
It's further believed that US scrap supplies are expected to remain tight through the remainder of the year. This is leading some to believe that the typical end-of-summer scrap inventory build up by US suppliers may not occur.
Shifting focus back overseas, at current, Far Eastern producers seem to be content with a sideline position, as a discrepancy of $15-$20/mt between US offer prices and Far Eastern offer has weakened interest in US scrap . Current offer prices for ex-US bulk scrap is heard at $405-$410/mt CFR China while Chinese producers are looking to come in at $390-$395/mt CFR. As of last week, prices for ex-US containerized scrap have been heard at $375-$385/mt CFR Taiwan.