After increasing over the past couple weeks, US scrap export prices have softened again. Turkish demand for US scrap has been moderate so far in March, and after buying a few cargos at the end of February/first days of March for approximately $450/mt CFR for HMS I&II and $455/mt CFR for shredded scrap, Turkish mills have once again scaled back buying. As a result, US scrap dealers have dropped their prices slightly over the past week to try and entice Turkish mills and current bulk HMS and shredded scrap offers from the US East Coast to Turkey now range from $445-$450/mt CFR. With US domestic scrap prices settling at sideways to slightly down in March, Turkish buyers are anticipating that US export prices may soften further as well, and are therefore delaying their scrap buying activity.
On the US West Coast, export scrap prices to East Asia and the Far East have also come down, while the export market over the past week has been quieter as compared to the final days of February. China still is not active in the US market while a few cargos have been sold to Taiwan and Korea. The latest container scrap prices of HMS 80:20 to Taiwan were sold at about $450/mt CFR, up about $20/mt from our last report two weeks ago, but down $5/mt from the first couple days of March. Breakbulk scrap offers from the US to Taiwan are in the range of $470/mt CFR. Taiwanese mills sense that US export prices still have more room to fall, and with finished steel demand in Taiwan weak, Taiwanese mills continue to buy scrap locally when possible. A few breakbulk cargos have also been sold to Korea at about $470/mt CFR, but as with Taiwan, buying activity is rather slow.