A relatively old ex-US scrap transaction disclosed to the market today, July 28, showed that deep sea scrap prices have decreased during the Feast of Sacrifice holiday.
SteelOrbis has learned that a Marmara-based steel producer has concluded the transaction for 10,000 mt of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $475/mt CFR, 25,000 mt of shredded scrap at $495/mt CFR and 15,000 mt of bonus scrap at $495/mt CFR, for August shipment. SteelOrbis’ estimation for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 was at $480/mt CFR before this booking.
This price level was expected by Turkey’s import scrap market and is not a surprise following the long-lived silence on buyers’ side. Prices are still set to decrease, SteelOrbis understands and “$470s/mt CFR for US origin HMS I/II 80:20 is not that far,” some sources state. While most market players believe that there can be more deals closed during the holiday, there is no new information yet that disclosed to the market. Sources think that more cargoes can be bought by mills in the second half of this week and the next week is expected to be livelier in terms of trading. Turkey has kept its purchases mostly silent this month, it is believed that Turkish mills would have to buy 10-15 more deep sea cargoes for August shipment. Since Turkish producers have not concluded many purchases for September shipment yet, they will continue deep sea scrap bookings following the completion of August shipments.
Meanwhile, on the short sea side, small tonnages of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap from Romania and Bulgaria have been sold to Turkey at $439/mt CFR. Demand on the short sea side is higher as compared to last week, though it cannot be interpreted as lively, SteelOrbis understands. Market players expect a revival in demand in the coming days. The most recent ex-Israel HMS I/II 75:25 scrap sale to Iskenderun was at $435/mt CIF but market players think that after the decreases recorded on the deep sea segment, the new workable levels are at around $425-430/mt CIF Iskenderun.