After a period of silence and growing uncertainty and pessimism in the import scrap market in Turkey, a deep sea sale has been concluded for a cargo originating from Canada. With the mentioned deal, the import scrap prices in Turkey have collapsed with the mood becoming more and more pessimistic.
A Marmara region-based Turkish mill has booked 23,000 mt of shredded scrap, 12,000 mt of HMS I/II 95:5 and 15,000 mt of P&S material at the average price of $255/mt CFR. The cargo will be shipped at the beginning of April. With the mentioned sale, the HMS I/II 80:20 price is estimated by most market players at around $247-248/mt CFR, while the latest deal for the mentioned grade from the US to Turkey was reported at $275/mt CFR last week.
As a result, the price drop for ex-North America scrap of almost $30/mt in one shot over one week has become a rather shocking development for the market, even though the downturn was expected. Earlier this week, some offers for the same grade were reported at $250-255/mt CFR. Sources expect scrap suppliers from Europe and the Baltic region will try selling at $245/mt CFR for HMS I/II 80:20, though some say they will have hard time achieving this level. Last week, two deals for ex-Baltic region were fixed at $268/mt CFR for the mentioned grade. In the short sea segment, prices for HMS I/II 80:20 are expected to be at around $230-233/mt CFR, SteelOrbis understands.
It is worth mentioning that most market insiders have been expecting scrap prices to collapse, taking into account the mood of panic and low activity by buyers. Earlier on March 18, one of the sources described demand as being “less than zero”, having added that these days no one can foresee even the nearest market developments.
