The import scrap market in Turkey is still quiet, with no new import scrap booking being heard in Turkey after the ex-deep sea scrap deals concluded at the beginning of last week for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $312.5/mt CFR. After these deals, many scrap suppliers were seen in the market, seeking to conclude ex-Baltic transactions for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $315/mt CFR and ex-US deals for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $320/mt CFR. However, towards the end of last week Chinese billet suppliers, who had been avoiding making increases in their billet prices for a long time and even preferred to reduce them slightly, finally increased their billet offers to the export markets due to the rises observed in iron ore prices starting from the middle of the same week.
Additionally, steel producers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of Turkey's most important finished steel export markets, raised their rebar prices significantly in the same period. As a result, scrap suppliers withdrew the abovementioned offers for Turkey and then raised their offers to the range of $325-330/mt CFR. Currently, Turkish steel producers are keeping a close eye on the market as they are unwilling to accept the sudden increases in import scrap prices before gaining a clearer picture of the trend in the finished steel export markets and of the strategy of scrap suppliers. Many market players view this situation as the calm before the storm, while they expect import scrap prices to increase sharply in new transactions. On the other hand, following the Labor Day holiday in China, prices of iron ore and domestic billet prices in the country declined today, May 3. Market players are watching with interest to see how these declines will impact Chinese billet export offers.