Even though few cargoes have been concluded to Turkey or the Far East over the past couple weeks, export scrap prices from the US have managed to hold steady. Turkey has been acquiring scrap cargoes from both the US and Europe as needed over the past two weeks. Although Turkey booked a few prompt cargoes from the US in the beginning of July due to the onset of Ramadan, for the most part, activity is only stable. Exporters in the US are paying about $315-$320/mt for scrap at the pier on the East Coast, according to SteelOrbis sources, and the latest scrap cargoes to Turkey were sold for about $380-$382/mt CFR on HMS I/II, and $385-$388/mt CFR on shredded scrap. Although export prices have vacillated up and down over the past month, recent deals show little change in pricing from export cargoes sold in the second half of June, indicating that prices have steadied, and may even begin to move up following the Ramadan holiday and the US domestic scrap price trend for August; while it's still much too early to tell where scrap prices will settle next month, scrap dealers now believe US prices could experience a slight uptick.
If US domestic scrap prices were to firm, especially following substantial declines in June and July, it would also positively impact export scrap prices on the West Coast. As with sales prices to Turkey, export prices from the US West Coast to Taiwan have flattened out over the past couple weeks, and Taiwanese mills haven't purchased any major cargoes, only buying scrap on an as-needed basis. Currently, customers in Taiwan and China remain bearish, especially considering declines in finished steel prices in the Far East, and current scrap container offers from the US are unchanged in the last couple weeks, and remain around $375-$380/mt CFR.