Turkish mills continue to exert pressure on import scrap suppliers, specifically the deep sea ones, citing the weakness of finished steel demand in both long and flat segments. In the meantime, some fresh deals were reported for the short sea scrap.
SteelOrbis has been informed that Romania traded two HMS I/II 80:20 scrap cargos at $270/mt CFR to Izmir and Marmara. Croatia has also concluded two deals at the same price level to the same regions of Turkey. The total volume of these four sales to four different steel producers is reportedly 22,000-25,000 mt. The contract price from the mentioned destinations is stable compared to the end of last week, though it decreased by $5/mt as compared to levels recorded before the Feast of Sacrifice holiday. Initial HMS I/II 80:20 scrap offers from Bulgaria and Romania are at $270-273/mt CFR Turkey. Russia’s A3 grade scrap is available at $277-278/mt CFR Turkey with no takers around, SteelOrbis understands.
Ex-EU HMS I/II 80:20 scrap reached to $280/mt CFR Turkey in the sales from the UK and Belgium, closed earlier in August; offers are also heard $5/mt above the mentioned level. Market players inform that the scrap trade from Europe has been slow lately due to the holiday season. Offers from the Baltic region have declined by $5/mt since before Feast of Sacrifice holiday to $280-285/mt CFR for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap. “On Friday, August 16, the ex-Baltic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap offer at $280/mt CFR Turkey was not accepted by the buyer,” a market player said.
Sellers from the US, the key deep sea supplying destination, are standing at $290/mt CFR Turkey for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in initial offers, some aim for slightly above, SteelOrbis has learned. “Americans do not accept the prices targeted by Turkey. For these reasons, they sell to different destinations such as Mexico and Uruguay,” one of the sources said. However, according to the market sources, Turkish mills target to close deals at no higher than $275-278/mt CFR, but there is no positive feedback from the key suppliers just yet.
Market players share different opinions regarding further developments. Some of them foresee that Turkey might intensify purchases within the coming 10 days. Others, on the contrary, believe the purchasing activity will remain limited on weak finished steel sales. Moreover, further production cuts are not excluded, if the current situation continues.