As anticipated in Turkey’s import scrap market, deep sea prime grade scrap prices have increased sharply amid the lack of supply.
A Marmara-based Turkish mill has concluded an ex-Sweden transaction for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $419/mt CFR and shredded scrap at $429/mt CFR. The $10/mt price difference between HMS I/II 80:20 scrap and shredded grade is explained by the shortage of the latter. Prior to this deal, SteelOrbis’ estimation for ex-Baltic benchmark scrap quotations were within the range of $405-410/mt CFR.
It is observed that supply in the international scrap market has shrunk significantly due to winter conditions as well as due to the measures taken against the second wave of Covid-19, while the problem is expected to continue during the approaching year-end holidays. Germany has announced a full lockdown for the period of December 16-January 10, which may be extended during a government meeting scheduled for January 5. There are still no ex-US scrap bookings heard in the market, but market sources state that sellers are aiming for levels of $420-430/mt CFR Turkey. The situation is similar on the short sea side, while short sea sellers are in no rush to conclude deals to Turkey amid the ongoing uptrend of the deep sea segment. Also, the increasing trend in the global steel market continues, supporting the scrap segment. Turkey concluded a rebar export sale to Peru last week at $600/mt FOB, while some market players report that the transaction was made through a trader and that the price is estimated to be around $570-580/mt FOB without the trader’s commission.