Turkish buying activity for imported scrap has remained relatively quiet during the past week. Having almost completed their scrap purchases for October, Turkish steelmakers are now waiting until after the Feast of Sacrifice holiday (October 15-20) to conclude new deep sea scrap bookings. The ex-Baltic scrap deal heard yesterday, October 7, in the local market at the price level of $373/mt CFR for mixed shredded and bonus grade scrap constitutes an upward signal for import scrap prices. Meanwhile, ex-US deals in the coming period will help the price trend to gain clarity.
On the other hand, stronger short sea A3 scrap demand in Turkey ahead of the winter has contributed to the consolidation of prices. Accordingly, Russian A3 scrap offers to Turkey have increased by $5/mt on the high end as compared to the most recent transaction levels, rising to $360-365/mt CFR. In the meantime, Romanian A3 scrap, which has lately booked in Turkey at $352-355/mt CFR, is now being offered at $356-360/mt CFR.
It is now evident that import scrap prices, which have followed a sideways trend in the past two weeks, have reached the bottom, while scrap suppliers will likely revise their offers upward after the Feast of Sacrifice. Apart from the influence of finished steel demand from the Middle East and North Africa, Turkish mills are expected to raise their finished steel export offers if import scrap prices indicate increases.
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