Turkey’s import scrap market has settled in the range of $327-335.5/mt CFR, with sideways sentiments strengthening. Market sources report that there are now very few stressed cargoes left in the market with the potential for a price decline, while other suppliers have started to show resistance to any lower-priced bids from Turkish mills.
Turkey’s most recent ex-US scrap booking done yesterday, September 16, was concluded by an Izmir-based producer for HMS I/II 90:10 scrap at $338/mt CFR and P&S grade scrap at $355/mt CFR. This signals that the benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 scrap price has remained at $335/mt CFR, just $0.5/mt lower than the previous transaction. SteelOrbis has revised its prices for this grade to $335-335.5/mt CFR.
Market sources report that a greater number of Turkish steel producers are in the market seeking scrap cargoes, while ex-US scrap suppliers are resisting lower-priced bids. On the other hand, there is still a high number of available ex-EU scrap cargoes, while exporters’ collection prices remain at €235-240/mt DAP. With the euro-US dollar exchange rate at 1.18 as of today, September 17, it is not clear that sellers from Europe can accept lower bids from buyers. A Germany-based sub-collector said today that their collection prices for uncut scrap are now at around €195/mt delivered, while last week another sub-collector mentioned that their price was at €210/mt ex-works. Both these levels do not give much room to European sub-collectors to lower their sales prices further. As a result, the ex-EU HMS I/II 80:20 scrap price is very close to the bottom if not already there.
Turkey has concluded deals for around 20 deep sea cargoes to be shipped in October, while some market sources report that the number is surely higher given the confidential transactions that were not shared with the market. As a result, Turkey is expected to complete most of its deals for October shipments before the SteelOrbis Fall 2025 Conference & 93rd IREPAS Meeting in Munich to be held at the end of the month. Turkey's Kardemir opened its rebar sales at TRY 22,475/mt ($544/mt), excluding VAT, earlier today, September 17, while it closed them after less than an hour. Sources report that the mill succeeded in selling around 16,500 mt given its advantageous payment terms. The price indicated a TRY 20/mt increase, while falling by $3/mt on US dollar basis, compared to its previous price list dated Wednesday, August 27. Sources report that the workable rebar prices in Turkey’s Marmara and Izmir regions, including Icdas A.S.’s prices, currently vary at $530-545/mt ex-works. Additionally, prices for Chinese billet in both local and export markets have been corrected up slightly early this week, supported by the increase in raw material prices. Nevertheless, market sources still doubt that this is a start of a firm uptrend, while it has rather been assessed as a correction since the gradual improvement in demand has been in line with rising supply and in general the market fundamentals have not changed much.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-China billet is up $5/mt compared to late last week to $430-450/mt FOB, with the midpoint at $440/mt FOB. Amid recovering import billet prices and relatively stable local rebar prices in Turkey, scrap has no attractive competition from the semi-finished steel side.
