In the new deals disclosed, Turkey’s import scrap market has continued to move up, with the upper end exceeding $345/mt CFR.
Market sources report that a Turkish steel producer located in the Iskenderun region has concluded two deals, one from the US and the other from the UK. The ex-US scrap booking is reported to have been closed at $346-347/mt CFR for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap, indicating a $5/mt rise in prices. The ex-UK deal has been signed at $337/mt CFR for the same grade, very similar to the ex-Belgium transaction previously done at $338/mt CFR.
Market sources report that the number of scrap offers available for Turkey is on the high side. “We still only hear a couple of producers’ names in the market as potential buyers. Not all of them are showing real interest, just the biggest ones,” one scrap supplier commented. Another source reported that ex-US offers are at around $350-352/mt CFR. Another trader said expectations for the next scrap deals are at around $340-343/mt CFR for European origin and at $347-350/mt CFR for ex-US cargoes. “Turkish mills need scrap. Their recent purchasing pace has been slow. Some major mills have remained very silent in May. We expect them to become more active in the coming period. Billets are not attractive for Turkish mills yet,” a source said.
The billet market in Turkey has remained active at the end of the current week, but rather in terms of inquiring and checking prices than in terms of actual serious intentions of buyers to purchase. The mood in China has become a little more optimistic and ex-China offer prices for billet to Turkey have inched up, while scrap prices are also firm in Turkey’s import segment. On May 15, most ex-China offers for end-of-July and August shipments were reported at $470-473/mt CFR, while only a couple of suppliers were offering at $467-468/mt CFR, while others found this hard to achieve from the mills in China.