After showing hesitancy towards new scrap purchases early last week, Turkish steel mills returned to the scrap market at the weekend, concluding several ex-deep sea scrap bookings, mostly ex-US.
In the latest ex-US HMS I/II scrap transactions to Turkey, prices have further softened to $440/mt CFR in the absence of supply shortages for US scrap and as there are many ex-US scrap suppliers active in the market. In the meantime, an ex-UK scrap cargo, consisting of 10,000 mt of shredded scrap and 20,000 mt of HMS I/II 80:20, has been sold to Turkey at an average price level of $440.5/mt CFR.
Although no ex-Europe scrap offer has been heard so far, considering ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 prices Turkish steel mills state that ex-Europe HMS I/II 80:20 scrap offers should not exceed $430-435/mt CFR.
While some scrap suppliers state that the current scrap prices are bottom price levels, steel mills do not agree with this opinion and state that they will not be able to accept higher prices in the current market situation.