Turkish mills hold scrap purchases

Last week, scrap prices declined to a certain extent in some ex-deep-sea scrap transactions concluded by Turkish steel producers.
 
In an ex-US scrap transaction to Turkey last week, 18,000 mt of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap was priced at $500/mt CFR, 20,000 mt of shredded scrap was priced at $505/mt CFR, while the price of 2,000 mt of P&S scrap was $510/mt CFR. Following the conclusion of this transaction, ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap offers to Turkey, which were at $510-515/mt CFR, have regressed to $500/mt CFR.
 
Last week, ex-Europe HMS I/II 70:30 scrap offers to Turkey were standing at $489/mt CFR. Although the euro has strengthened against the US dollar this week, this offer level has only dropped to $485/mt CFR. Spanish scrap buyers have been closely monitoring Turkish scrap bookings and these buyers also delayed their transactions when Turkey suspended its scrap purchases, SteelOrbis understands.
 
 In the Turkish steel market, last week the latest ex-Black Sea A3 scrap transaction was concluded at $480-485/mt CFR. Although the price idea of Turkish mills has remained below $480/mt CFR this week, so far scrap offers have not declined to this level. Given that the scrap collection cost in Romania is currently standing at $460/mt, scrap offers to Turkey from Romania are unlikely to decrease for the time being.
 
The Turkish mills do not appear to be absent from the scrap market this week; however, they do want to be sure of actual scrap prices before moving to conclude scrap bookings. Some market players anticipate a certain recovery may be seen in scrap prices this week, while some Turkish producers have been seeking lower scrap prices for their purchases. By the middle of this week, Turkish steel producers are expected to intensify their scrap transaction activity and thus the trend in the scrap market is foreseen to gradually gain clarity.