Turkish producers are seen to be abstaining from scrap purchases during the quiet month of Ramadan. However, although demand has slowed down, the markets are observed to be indicating reductions on the supply side and so scrap prices have not shown any significant decrease.
Most suppliers of ex-US scrap which operate in the Turkish market have not been giving offers for a long time now. In the US domestic market, there is an expectation that scrap prices will go up by $20-40/mt depending on quality in early September. This expectation of a price increase due to the poor supply situation means that ex-US scrap prices in Turkey may also increase. While ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 was standing at $400/mt CFR in an offer heard last week, no ex-US scrap offers have been heard this week.
The increased strength of the euro against the dollar has caused ex-Europe scrap offers to gain an advantage. While ex-Europe HMS I/II 80:20 scrap offers are heard to be at $390/mt CFR, no transactions have been heard at these levels. In the most recent transaction heard, ex-Europe HMS I/II 70:30 was last week booked at $375/mt CFR.
Ex-Black Sea A3 grade scrap offers have again started to trend up after having softened somewhat last week. Scrap collection prices in Romania have again increased to the level of $362-365/mt from last week's levels of $340-350/mt. As a result, ex-Romania scrap offers to Turkey are expected to be at around $400/mt, which is thought to be unacceptable in Turkey for the time being.
It is heard that Turkish producers have not pulled out of the scrap markets, but are experiencing difficulties in finding offers. Since they will be eager to evaluate offers which they consider to be at suitable levels, it is thought that a number of transactions from Turkey might be heard this week.