Following yesterday’s deep sea scrap procurement frenzy in Turkey, sources report that sellers hastily reacted to the new price levels and number of offers in the market has increased significantly during afterhours.
Meanwhile, two deals that were not confirmed by the time yesterday’s report was published must be mentioned today, March 26. An ex-Sweden deal was closed by a mill in Turkey’s Black Sea side with the HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices at $394/mt CFR. Another ex-Baltic deal done by a Marmara-based producer was closed yesterday at $390/mt CFR, firming the lower end of the ex-Baltic scrap prices.
Today, two deals from two separate Baltic suppliers have sold cargoes to the same producer in the Marmara region with the HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $395/mt CFR to be shipped late April, early May. By these deals, SteelOrbis’ ex-Baltic scrap prices increased by $2/mt on the upper end to $390-395/mt CFR.
Although it was not confirmed by the time of publication an ex-US booking by an Izmir-based producer was done yesterday, March 25, for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $398/mt CFR, shredded and bonus grade scrap at $418/mt CFR. As a result, SteeOrbis’ reference prices for the ex-US scrap increased by $4/mt to directly $398/mt CFR.
SteelOrbis hears that ex-US offers to Turkey have risen to $402-403/mt CFR later yesterday, two offers were mentioned by market players. Some European’s with Germany and Denmark originated cargoes were offering $400/mt CFR. However, with the number of offers increasing scrap availability, some suppliers’ dropped their offer prices by $5/mt during negotiations, sources report. Today, a scrap supplier mentioned their concern about sellers potentially being aggressive. “We thought scrap prices would continue their uptrend, slowly maybe, but we thought there would be higher levels. Since yesterday’s news, the mood in the market is changing and stabilizing,” they said. Another one thinks that the first wave of demand from Turkish mills is satisfied, “I am sure there are more deals that were not shared with the market over the current week. So, I think, Turkish mills may take a breather now. Not a long one though.” All market players agree that deep sea scrap price in Turkey is unlikely to drop, but their sharp uptrend may have been limited by the accelerated dealings and offers. Also, source report that sea freight is softening, causing scrap suppliers to try catching the available window with lower freight rates.
