By the middle of last week Turkish producers began their scrap booking as expected, and thus the direction of the scrap market trend started to become clear.
In the past week, only a few ex-US scrap transactions have been heard in Turkey. Early last week, some large-scale US scrap suppliers insisted on collecting $465/mt CFR for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap and this caused Turkish steel mills to switch to Europe for their scrap bookings. Subsequently, SteelOrbis learned that an ex-US scrap transaction to Turkey was concluded at $450/mt CFR for 11,500 mt of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap, 11,500 mt of shredded scrap and 2,000 mt of P&S scrap.
Also last week, an ex-UK scrap transaction to Turkey for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap was concluded at $448/mt CFR, while the transaction price for HMS I/II 70:30 scrap was at $433.5/mt CFR.
In the period in question, many ex-Europe scrap transactions to Turkey have been heard, with the price of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $446-448/mt CFR. Meanwhile, the latest ex-UK HMS I/II 70:30 scrap transaction to Turkey was concluded at $442/mt CFR.
In the past week, some ex-Black Sea A3 scrap transactions to Turkey were concluded at $425-436/mt CFR.
SteelOrbis has learned from market sources that, following Turkish steel producers' return to the scrap market, many European and US scrap suppliers have arrived in Turkey. It is reported that these suppliers are conducting intensive negotiations with the Turkish mills, and it is expected that some new scrap transactions may be concluded as a result of these negotiations. Market players foresee that scrap prices will stabilize at their current levels. However, given the strong interest shown by the scrap suppliers who came to Turkey in concluding new bookings, it is thought that, if new scrap supplies exert pressure on the market, these suppliers may well accept some further price decline.