Turkish mills have started scrap purchases for January shipments, accepting some slight increase in deal prices. According to market sources, a Belgium-based scrap supplier sold a scrap cargo to a Marmara region-based producer on November 26. The lot included 25,000 mt of HMS I/II 75:25, 5,000 mt of shredded and 5,000 mt of HMS 1 and bonus grade, with the deal being closed at the average price of $262.5/mt CFR. In the transaction, the price of HMS I/II 75:25 is estimated at $259/mt CFR, while the HMS I/II 80:20 benchmark price is calculated as $264/mt CFR. As a result, with the mentioned deal, the ex-EU HMS I/II 80:20 scrap price indication for Turkey has moved up by $4/mt as compared to the previous sale.
This week, higher demand from Turkey for both deep sea and short sea scrap has been reported. Turkish long steel producers aim to meet their scrap requirements before prices edge up since flat steel producers in Turkey have been rather active in scrap purchases lately, following their lively hot rolled coil sales closed over the past couple of weeks. Offers for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 have been heard at as high as $265-270/mt CFR, with one sale rumored in the market as being closed at the lower end of the range. In the meantime, sources report that not many scrap cargoes are currently being offered to Turkey.