Having remained quiet last week in terms of import
scrap transactions, the Turkish market has also made a quiet start to the current week. Having accelerated their
scrap purchases following declines of $25/mt in import
scrap prices towards mid-February, Turkish mills have not been in a hurry to conclude new deals in the past two weeks. Although the general consensus in the market is that
scrap prices in the local
US market have not seen bottom levels yet and that prices for March buying may decline by $10-20/mt, market sources do not believe this domestic decline will be reflected in export offers. Availability of ex-
US scrap offers in the market are not on the plentiful side as most
US scrap suppliers' inventories are almost empty, giving the advantage to suppliers.
In the past week, no ex-
US scrap deal has been concluded in
Turkey, while the most recent ex-
US HMS I/II 80:20
scrap booking was concluded at $348/mt CFR. Activity will likely be quiet this week since most Turkish buyers have already completed their purchases, though for any new
scrap bookings Turkish buyers are predicted to focus on
Europe and the Baltic region amid the limited availability of ex-
US scrap offers in the market.
Meanwhile, the latest ex-Baltic
scrap deal has been concluded in
Turkey at $355/mt CFR for 23,000 mt of HMS I/II 80:20, 3,000 mt of shredded
scrap and 4,000 mt of bonus grade
scrap. In the meantime, current
scrap offers from
Europe to
Turkey stand in the range of $335-340/mt CFR.