A new import scrap booking from the Baltic region in Turkey has been disclosed to the market today, December 8, indicating a slightly lower price for benchmark grade scrap.
A Marmara-based Turkish steelmaker has concluded the ex-Lithuania booking for 14,000 mt of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $370/mt CFR, for December shipment. Prior to this deal, an ex-Estonia deal was closed at $375/mt CFR Turkey for the benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 grade scrap. The lower price was explained by the difference in quality between the cargoes.
Also, an older scrap deal closed by a Izmir-based producer from St. Petersburg has been disclosed today, for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $370/mt CFR and bonus grade scrap at $380/mt CFR, but this deal was transacted before the abovementioned ex-Estonia booking.
The import scrap market in Turkey is still expected to see further price increases. SteelOrbis has learned that US suppliers are targeting a range of $370-380/mt CFR Turkey, mainly the higher end of the range. The cold weather conditions in the US are slowing collection activities, and local scrap quotations that had increased by $70/mt in earlier sales have moved up further subsequently in some cases. Having said that, scrap prices in the US for delivery to port have been pushed up by exporters and may be increased further if the targeted export prices are achieved, while the US-based scrap exporters have an advantage as they pay regularly on Fridays to collectors as compared to the payment deferrals extending to 30-60 days of local mills. Some market sources have again started to voice $400/mt CFR Turkey for the prime grade scrap as a peak price, while some state that if the US returns to the market with some cargoes the uptrend of prices may ease a bit.
