As SteelOrbis expected, with common ground reached on deep sea scrap prices between Turkish buyers and overseas sellers, deals for ex-US cargoes were signed yesterday, March 26, below $400/mt CFR. Meanwhile, additional sales from the EU region have been confirmed, with deal prices moving up slightly.
Following the ex-US deal mentioned late yesterday, with the benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 scrap price at $398/mt CFR, the same buyer located in Izmir concluded three more ex-US deals, with prices at $397/mt CFR. A producer in the Marmara region has concluded the fifth ex-US booking, with the benchmark scrap price at $397/mt CFR. As a result, SteelOrbis’ reference price for this grade has been revised to $397-398/mt CFR, up by 0.89 percent.
Two ex-UK bookings were also concluded yesterday. One cargo is destined for the Marmara region, with HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $390/mt CFR, while the other will be shipped to Iskenderun, with HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $392/mt CFR. The same Marmara-based producer has concluded another ex-Belgium booking, with the HMS I/II 80:20 scrap price remaining at $390/mt CFR, while the higher grade premium in this cargo is $25/mt. A second Iskenderun-based producer has also concluded an ex-EU booking for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $390/mt CFR. As a result, SteelOrbis’ reference price for ex-UK/EU scrap has been revised to $390-392/mt CFR, up by 1.3 percent.
“The situation we saw during the past three days is self-explanatory. The waiting period ended with a big bang and Turkish mills have concluded a high number of deals, though we have not heard the name of one mill in these bookings. Hence, there may be more than already confirmed,” a source commented to SteelOrbis. In three days, 21 deep sea deals have been reported by sources, with 18 of them confirmed by the buyer or the seller. The others are on par with the prices in the confirmed bookings. “There are still some producers that are seeking cargoes. I think another ten cargoes will be needed to meet Turkey’s demand,” a supplier of ex-US and ex-EU scrap stated. “Well, if this war does not create further risk in the short term, a breather can be expected,” a seller commented. According to news agencies, International Energy Agency president Fatih Birol stated that more than 40 energy facilities - including refineries, oil fields, pipelines and terminals - across nine different countries have suffered severe or very severe damage. Although the agency decided to release 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stocks to mitigate the impact of the war on oil supply, terminals will not be able to return to their previous capacity, and losses in refined products cannot be quickly replaced. “Our rebar sales prices do not compensate for current scrap prices. Tonnages are still on the low side, while most workable levels are in the range of $585-595/mt ex-works,” a source at a major Turkish mill commented. As of yesterday, March 26, official rebar offers and workable prices for cash payment in the Marmara and Izmir regions, including İçdaş' prices, settled at $590-610/mt ex-works and $585-605/mt ex-works, respectively. These prices indicate an increase of $10-20/mt compared to March 23. Import billet offers to Turkey from China are in the range of $510-515/mt CFR, with a deal done at $508/mt CFR Izmir. Russian billets were sold at $478/mt CFR, with Russian offers standing at around $485/mt CFR. Ukraine origin billet offers are at $530/mt CFR for May shipment.
