As only observably older deals were shared in Turkey’s import scrap market late yesterday, June 11, the holiday mood is not yet really over in the scrap market. Despite the high availability in the market before the Feast of Sacrifice holiday, sellers are observed to have taken a step back and are resisting the lower bids from Turkish mills. While the current week has made a quiet start in terms of scrap bookings, the finished steel sales of Turkish producers have not seen any positive developments yet.
It has been learned that two scrap bookings by the same Turkish buyer at the beginning of last week were closed from the UK and Germany, with the HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices at $336.5/mt CFR and $332.5/mt CFR, respectively. The ex-UK transaction indicates that the price gap between HMS I/II 80:20 scrap and shredded was $25/mt for this cargo.
Market sources report that collection prices at EU-based scrap export yards are at around €250/mt DAP, but scrap flow is very slow. “Especially for shredded scrap, my people tell me that domestic mills’ procurement prices are almost equal to $375/mt CFR Turkey. Hence, shredded tonnage is on the low side at European export yards,” a seller commented. A German sub-collector also mentioned that some local mills have corrected their domestic scrap purchase prices upward this month. Another scrap exporter agreed that flow to yards is slow, adding, “Sea freight is increasing because people want to buy or sell everything before the 90 days of delay for Trump’s tariffs end. Therefore, finding vessels is getting problematic, not just from the EU but also from the US.” The rapid change in the local US scrap market sentiment has also been supportive. Meanwhile, Turkey needs to buy another 20-25 deep sea scrap cargoes for shipment in July. “It is already June 11. Turkey’s time is decreasing. The mills will be back soon to conclude bookings,” one player commented. The first information regarding the US-China negotiations came from President Trump’s social media account, saying a deal has been done. The relationship between the world’s two largest economies is “excellent”, Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding in block capitals, “We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%.” This development is expected to support positive sentiment for global trade as well as for scrap.
