Turkish scrap market makes a quiet start to current week

Although the one-week long Ramadan holiday will begin next week in Turkey, Turkish steel producers have not concluded any scrap booking so far this week. In last week's scrap transactions, ex-Europe scrap prices for Turkey have shown some declines, while ex-US scrap prices have been maintained at previous levels.
 
Last week, ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap transactions to Turkey were concluded at $469/mt CFR. But this week, no new transaction or offer has been heard so far. The US scrap suppliers state that, although the scrap price has fallen by $5/mt in an ex-Canada transaction to Turkey, ex-US scrap prices are unlikely to regress for the time being.
 
Early last week, a scrap supplier offered ex-Europe HMS I/II 70:30 scrap to Turkey at $445/mt CFR, while another scrap supplier concluded sales of the same grade scrap at $436.75/mt CFR Turkey. After this booking, which indicated a price decrease for ex-Europe scrap, no new transaction has been heard.
 
On the other hand, ex-Black Sea scrap prices are falling. Last week, the transaction price for ex-Russia A3 scrap was at $455/mt CFR Marmara Sea, while the transaction price for ex-Romania A3 scrap was at $445/mt CFR Marmara Sea, with the price for ex-Ukraine A3 scrap at $448/mt CFR. Coming to this week, scrap collection prices in Romania have declined to $395-405/mt. In this week's market, Turkish mills are not showing interest in ex-Romania A3 scrap offers at $445/mt CFR nor in ex-Russia A3 scrap offers at $455/mt, and so they pronounce lower price levels instead.
 
Currently, Turkish mills are not active in scrap purchases. While some market players expect Turkish producers to switch to buying towards the end of the current week, some other players think that Turkish mills will decide their next scrap bookings taking into consideration the market situation in the post-Ramadan period. For now, the uncertainties and upheaval in the global economy have shortened visibility for both steel buyers and sellers.