The US export scrap market is holding steady with no significant price improvement on the horizon.
In anticipation of the month-long Ramadan holiday in August, Turkish producers concluded several scrap cargoes from the US East Coast in the past week at approximately $465 to $475/mt CFR--reflecting no change from a week ago. Market insiders expect Turkish producers will book additional scrap cargoes from the US East Coast in the next two weeks to arrive after the holidays, but overall, a slow market is anticipated in the near-term, and as such, ex-US scrap prices to Turkey are predicted to hover around the current levels in the following weeks.
On the West Coast, ex-US scrap prices to the Far East have remained more or less the same from two weeks ago. Currently, ex-US bulk offer scrap prices to China are in the level of $485 to $495/mt CFR, while ex-US container offer scrap prices to Taiwan are between $460 and $470/mt CFR. Although bulk cargo buying activity from China registered a small uptick, in general there are not a lot of scrap bookings to be seen in the Far East, as scrap demand overall in the Far East is still soft due to the summer holiday slowdown. Therefore, it is expected the ex-US scrap prices to the Far East will remain neutral throughout the month, but industry insiders are hoping to see improvement on scrap demand and prices in September.
As for US domestic scrap, prices are expected to go sideways in August, due to steady US export scrap prices and the summer slowdown involving mill maintenance and vacation holidays.