Continuing to monitor international developments, Turkish mills have remained cautious this week in terms of scrap purchases. Negative sentiments have been building up rapidly in Turkey’s import scrap market, while most sources believe prices have already fallen by at least $5/mt despite the lack of actual deals.
SteelOrbis hears that a couple of ex-EU scrap cargoes are offered at $370/mt CFR Turkey. “We shall not forget that there is the possibility of negotiation on the offer prices,” a European scrap supplier said, adding, “I think we can admit that the European HMS I/II 80:20 scrap price may be lower than $370/mt in the next deal.” An ex-Baltic scrap cargo is also offered at around $370-372/mt CFR Turkey, SteelOrbis hears. Most seller sources agree that ex-US cargoes will have a hard time finding $375/mt CFR from now on. “I believe European bookings will be done at around $367-368/mt CFR and ex-US in the range of $370-375/mt CFR. Maybe later this week, we may hear something. There is no interest from Turkey yet,” another supplier commented.
Looking at India as an alternative to Turkey, import scrap prices in the country have been rather stable over the past week with trades limited amid buyers’ expectations of prices softening and sufficient local raw material sourcing. Early in the week, some ex-UK/Europe scrap sellers were heard to be adjusting offers for containerized shredded to $388/mt CFR India at the lowest to push trades, but buyers have persisted with bids at least $5-7/mt lower, preventing any successful deals, the sources said.
Turkey’s local steel markets are also struggling in terms of sales. Domestic rebar prices are still soft, failing to gain ground, while billet is still an alternative to scrap. In the Izmir and Marmara regions, rebar prices are at $565-590/mt ex-works, stable against the backdrop of sluggish demand. Offer prices for billets in Turkey posted declines early this week due to the weakening in China and poor demand in major sales destinations for Asian sellers. Chinese and Indonesian billet offers have been at $465-468/mt CFR Turkey for June shipment this week, while some Turkish buyers have been waiting for even lower levels, at around $460/mt CFR. Turkish mills want to see some sales before returning to the scrap markets.
Since there are no actual deals confirmed by the market yet, SteelOrbis has revised its ex-US scrap prices down to $375-377/mt CFR, its ex-EU scrap prices to $370-372/mt CFR and ex-Baltic scrap prices to $372-375/mt CFR.
The mot recent ex-Romanian deals were closed at $351-353/mt CFR Turkey, though market sources report that these levels are not workable anymore. There is little to no interest in Turkey in short sea scrap cargoes, especially from Romania and Bulgaria.