In the ex-US deal disclosed in Turkey’s import scrap market late on Friday, April 22, deep sea scrap prices decreased sharply.
SteelOrbis has learned that an Izmir-based Turkish mill concluded the ex-US booking in question for a total of 34,000-35,000 mt of shredded and bonus grade scrap at $595-596/mt CFR, to be shipped in mid-May. Market players believe that the difference between HMS I/II 80:20 and shredded scrap prices is now around $15/mt, citing the downtrend in the market. Accordingly, the HMS I/II 80:20 scrap price has settled at $580-581/mt CFR Turkey. The price decline from the previous es-US deal is huge. On April 6, HMS I/II 80:20 scrap was transacted from the US at $653/mt CFR Turkey.
Taking into consideration the latest US origin deal, the price estimations for ex-EU HMS I/II 80:20 scrap are now at $570-575/mt CFR Turkey, while ex-Baltic scrap prices remain at $575-580/mt CFR. “Since the cargo we heard does not have any HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in it, it is hard to be sure about the benchmark price, though it is obviously the biggest signal we have had for weeks,” one market player commented. “We will wait and see if the market is ready to accept these levels. It is possible more deals may be seen in the current week,” a seller commented. “It was a sharp decline in prices, but at least everyone has relaxed,” another seller stated.
The workable levels for short sea HMS I/II 80:20 scrap from the Black Sea region have also decreased, to $550-555/mt CFR Turkey. Short sea scrap prices had been decreasing at a fast pace for some time, hence the impact of the deep sea deal on this segment was smaller.