Following the European deals disclosed to the Turkey’s import scrap market earlier today, May 12, another deep sea booking from St. Petersburg has been closed.
SteelOrbis has learned that an Iskenderun-based producer has concluded the transaction for 20,000 mt of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $500/mt CFR and 5,000 mt of bonus grade scrap at $510/mt CFR, for July shipment. Previous to this deal, SteelOrbis’ estimation for Baltic origin HMS I/II 80:20 scrap was in the range of $500-510/mt CFR and will remain at this level.
It is not only that the psychological threshold of $500/mt CFR for the benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 scrap is now reached, it is a ten year high in terms of deep sea prime grade scrap prices. The last time deep sea HMS I/II 80:20 scrap hit this level was the first month of 2011 when SteelOrbis’ price series set to $500-520/mt CFR in January and maintained an average level of $505-510/mt CFR for three weeks. Currently, the main question in the market is how far this rise can go on. A source from a Turkish mill states that prime grade scrap can be considered as $505-510/mt CFR right now, while other players in the market think that higher levels such as $520/mt CFR can be achieved in the coming period. Some players attract attention to the widened gap between finished steel prices and scrap quotations, adding that this gap is set to narrow again to more acceptable levels with the next deals. Although Turkey has started the Ramadan holiday today, Turkey’s import scrap market is expected to remain lively. Some mills state that the increases recorded in every new deep sea scrap booking may lead them to buy without waiting after the holiday.
