The cost of bulk freight from USEC is still reported at $44-46/mt CFR Turkey this week, unchanged from the previous week, but the instability in the Strait of Hormuz and rising oil prices are still keeping exporters very protective of their margins.
Regarding the uncertainty in the US-Israel-Iran war, there was a two-week ceasefire that was announced last week, yet US President Donald Trump mentioned on Tuesday that his country was ready to go back to war as the deadline looms, and he believes conditions for peace have not been met. In the interim, Israel also continued to attack Lebanon even during the ceasefire. On the other hand, Iran has said it considers the US violated the ceasefire and is deciding if it will send a delegation to Islamabad for further talks with the US.
Participants in the scrap trade are wary that the situation is far from concluded, and global oil and energy prices could keep climbing.
The price of HMS I to New York and Philadelphia docks remains in the $280-290/gt ($284.4-294.6/mt) delivered export yard range, with the higher range reserved for deals involving large tonnages. Some sellers reported selling at $260-265/gt ($264-269/mt) ex-yard basis; they also noted the range was unchanged from last week. Shredder feed is reported at $250-260/gt ($254-264/mt) delivered to the export yard, with the higher range mainly reported for deals at the New York docks.
In Boston, it was the same situation: prices to the docks were flat at $255-265/gt ($259-269/mt) delivered export yard, and shredder feed was also unchanged at $155-165/gt ($171-182/mt) delivered.
Benefits of a stronger export market have still not befallen USEC scrap sellers to the docks. The price of US-origin HMS I/II 80:20 rose $2/mt from last week to $402/mt CFR Turkey, while another couple of deals heard on Tuesday (not confirmed yet) suggest the grade may continue to grow $1-2/mt very soon.
The Turkish finished steel market saw slight price improvements this week for hot-rolled coil (HRC), yet contacts reported to SteelOrbis that these were mainly due to higher costs and cautious monetary expectations, not stronger demand. So the fundamentals for the USEC-Turkish export market are not evidently improving, but the upward trend may be more related to global economic and political uncertainty.
