Earlier this week, as Turkish mills started to seek deep sea cargoes for shipment in December, they realized that sellers were not in a rush to meet their demand. The market was strictly a seller’s market amid the strong demand received from Turkey, market sources stated.
Both buyers and sellers stated that Turkish mills’ scrap inventories were on the low side since they had been maintaining a cautious stance for a long time in terms of stock management. “We anticipated that they would need more cargoes if their finished steel sales accelerated. Their sales seem to be going well. On the other hand, some scrap cargoes were postponed due to high freight costs or the lack of vessels, forcing some buyers to find prompt cargoes,” a European scrap seller commented on November 4. Another European supplier stated, “We see that prices have increased by at least $5/mt and this uptrend will continue as all Turkish mills are seeking cargoes. We cannot see the peak of prices yet, anything can happen, depending on sellers’ attitude.” A source at a Turkish mill agreed, stating, “Each cargo offered to the Turkish market can find a buyer within a minute. It is completely a seller’s market, while we see no urgency on the sellers’ side.”
As the current week proceeded, Turkey’s import scrap prices moved up in new deals. The market was trying to find a balance between the supplier regions, though each offer shared with Turkish mills was closed quickly with a slight price increase. European sources report that the collection prices of exporters have increased to €255-257.5/mt DAP. “This level is almost on a par with what local producers are paying. Also, I must state that export yards are not that picky about the grade,” a German sub-collector said. While European producers do not agree that there is a shortage in scrap supply, sub-collectors are telling another story. The slower generation from industrial production is impacting supply volumes, but that is not the only problem observed. The cost-profit balance in the EU scrap market is reported to be broken and sub-collectors signal that they need higher sales prices to export yards or the local market to earn money. Turkish mills’ recent flurry of deep sea scrap purchases is triggered by their urgent need for scrap. Producers report that their rebar sales are going fairly well, while domestic rebar prices are also increasing and are accepted by traders. Meanwhile, this recent revival in demand is expected to continue for now, though winter will take its toll on demand in the end. Hence, when this first round of scrap purchases ends, the upward pace of prices may slow down.
Under the current conditions, the deep sea benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in CFR terms have moved up by 1.08 percent week on week. The prices are now 2.1 percent higher month on month in the deep sea segment, in the range of $349-355.5/mt CFR.
November US ferrous scrap pricing is seen settling sideways across all scrap grades, the result of this week’s monthly buy-cycle supply negotiations, market insiders told SteelOrbis.
For several weeks prior to this week’s monthly supply negotiations, insiders told SteelOrbis they expected a larger number of US mills would likely emerge as scrap buyers this month versus last month, as a growing number of downed mills began to emerge from yearly fall maintenance operations. Insiders also said local scrap inventories - especially prime grades of Midwest busheling scrap - at local supply yards remained “more than adequate” since peaking during the August-September period. Inflows were also reported to be sufficient, they said.
Based on a sideways to October settlement, US Midwest prime busheling scrap - which settled on average $20/gt less during October negotiations - could settle for November in the US Ohio Valley flat at $395-420/gt ($401-427/mt) on delivered basis, while shredded scrap, which saw a $10/gt decline for October, could settle near $365-370/gt ($371-376/mt) delivered. Ohio Valley HMS grades which moved $10/gt lower in October, could trade flat at $315-335/gt ($320-340/mt), while P&S scrap, which settled on average $10/gt less, could see a November settled price at $351-361/gt ($357-367/mt).
During the Ecomondo fair held in Rimini on November 4-7, 2025, SteelOrbis collected various opinions from players in the Italian scrap market. Scrap suppliers initially showed some slight enthusiasm for higher prices, which was immediately dampened by mills, which are instead determined to maintain unchanged prices in future contracts.
On the other side, scrap suppliers seem to be aware that, despite the struggles in finding volumes of some scrap categories (especially higher grades), scrap demand from buyers is not enough to allow significant increases in scrap prices in Italy. In light of this, scrap prices in the local market in Italy have remained substantially unchanged compared to last week.
Different outlooks have emerged in the local German scrap market this week as Turkish mills have become more present in the import scrap market.
Turkish mills have suddenly found themselves in urgent need of buying scrap quantities and are finding it hard to secure volumes from European scrap exporters due to a number of reasons. First of all, high freight rates are postponing scrap deliveries, and, second, German scrap export yards have reported very low inflows of material.
Market sources are not really observing a scrap shortage at the moment, as some scrap collectors have continued to receive offers, as demand from local mills is reportedly not on the high side. Therefore, the €5-10/mt scrap price increase that some market players were hoping for in November is unlikely, even if the fall in scrap prices in October in the local German market was significant.
Taiwan’s import scrap prices have remained stable this week as Japanese suppliers have remained absent. While offer prices from the US have declined a little, the actual deal prices have remained stable. On the other hand, ex-Japan H2 grade scrap offers have now been absent for the fourth week in a row.
Over the past week, actual deal prices for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers have remained stable at $295/mt CFR. As SteelOrbis said in its last report, Japanese suppliers are absent and not sharing offers with Taiwan due to attractive container deal prices, Japan’s high local prices and the limited supply. The most recent offer from Japan to Taiwan was heard a month ago at $315/mt CFR.
Activity in Vietnam’s import scrap and steel markets has been impacted heavily by the consecutive floods and typhoons that have hit the country. The record rainfall observed in Vietnam in late October has caused floods and landslides in the country, while this week Typhoon Kalmaegi has triggered power outages and damaged homes.
Ex-US bulk HMS I/II 80:20 scrap offers have remained unchanged over the past week at $350/mt CFR Vietnam once again. Sources report that workable levels are still at around $340/mt CFR. Meanwhile, the lack of interest for this grade in Vietnam or in other traditional buyer regions has caused a supplier in US West Coast to sell a cargo to Turkey.
Vietnam has continued to buy Japanese H2 scrap at $325/mt CFR over the past week, with offers remaining at around $330/mt CFR.
This week, the Tokyo Bay FAS-based price for H2 grade scrap has increased by JPY 500/mt week on week to JPY 43,000/mt ($281/mt), up by $5/mt on dollar basis. The FOB-based export price remains at JPY 44,000/mt ($287/mt) for the grade in question, up by $5/mt week on week.
Pakistan’s import scrap market has continued to soften over the past two weeks, with prices facing sustained downward pressure amid weak domestic demand, depreciation of the rupee, and tight liquidity conditions. More specifically, this week most offers for ex-EU/UK shredded scrap in containers have dropped to $355-360/mt CFR, down by $5/mt on the lower end of the range over the past two weeks. However, according to sources, several deals for shredded scrap have been signed at $355-358/mt CFR Qasim. Meanwhile, offers for ex-UAE HMS/PNS grade scrap have been voiced at $343/mt CFR Qasim port and at $345/mt CFR Karachi port, compared to $350-355/mt CFR two weeks ago. Tradable prices for shredded scrap from the UAE have settled at around $365/mt CFR, though most offers have been reported at $372-375/mt CFR, versus $380/mt CFR two weeks ago. According to market insiders, scrap offers from the UAE have moved down, largely due to oversupply in their domestic market. While yard availability in Dubai has tightened, mills there are reported to have paused scrap intake for several weeks because of excess inventories and weak consumption. As a result, more material has been diverted toward export channels, adding to the downward pressure on regional prices.