Last week, the Turkish import scrap market was lively as many import scrap deals were reported. In particular, a steel producer in Turkey's Iskenderun region concluded many import scrap deals in succession, which came as a big surprise to market players. As we reported in our most recent analysis, import scrap prices in the Turkish market increased by $4-6/mt in these last concluded deals, depending on origin. Meanwhile, another producer in Turkey's Iskenderun region closed the scrap purchase tender it had opened on April 17 without concluding any transactions as offers received were considered to be on the high side. Market sources state that, within the scope of the tender, scrap suppliers, who have been trying to strengthen their prices following the latest deals concluded, made bids at $273-275/mt CFR range, but the producer in question did not want to buy scrap at these price levels. Although the Turkish import scrap market made a quiet start to the the current week, today, April 21, a Turkish steel producer concluded an ex-Baltic deal for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $274/mt CFR, for end of May shipment, which is $5-7/mt higher compared to ex-Baltic transaction prices last week.
This latest deal has attracted a lot of attention in the market, while market sources state that the increase in price is due to shortage of supply. Although many import scrap deals were concluded in the Turkish market during recent weeks, Turkish producers' demand for scrap has remained strong in April as producers' inventories remained low, and so scrap supplies have been insufficient and on the low side compared to demand. In fact, European scrap suppliers have been focusing more on the strong scrap demand in their domestic markets and less on the export markets, while scrap flow into yards are at low levels in the US. Meanwhile, the reduction in scrap supply is due to factors such as increasing scrap collection costs on US dollar basis in the Black Sea and St. Petersburg regions amid the weakness of the Russian ruble against the US dollar and the unwillingness of traders in these regions in selling scrap to Turkey, as Turkish producers' scrap purchasing prices are considered to be on the low side. Also, some Turkish steel producers have been making inquiries for import scrap since the beginning of this week and new deals may be concluded in the coming period. However, transaction activities are expected to be rather slow in the coming week as compared to previous weeks. Meanwhile, scrap suppliers are expected to offer higher prices following the latest deal concluded from the Baltic region.