In the short sea segment, finding spot cargoes is still hard due to the disruptions in transportation. The tightness of ship availability in the short sea segment may also lead Turkish mills to focus on deep sea bookings in the coming period to secure the tonnages they need to fill the gaps in their requirements as their needs are nearly impossible to meet with short sea scrap purchases under the current circumstances, which include volatile freight rates. “This has already been seen for some steel mills during October. Some steelmakers bought a higher-than-usual number of deep sea cargoes,” one producer commented. “On the other hand, the bid prices on the table are now lower,” another player stated. Another supplier and a producer stated that even bookings done previously have not been shipped due to the volatile freight rates.
HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices from Romania and the Adriatic region have remained stable in the range of $480-485/mt CFR this week. From Israel, an Iskenderun-based mill has bought HMS I/II 75:25 scrap at $460/mt CIF, up $5/mt from the last ex-Israel booking done a week ago, though it is lower than the sellers’ anticipated prices for this week. Another seller stated that mills are not willing to pay higher prices nowadays, but prices are firm amid the tight ship availability.