Turkish mills have not taken any action yet, though they had been expected to commence their scrap purchases for June loadings. Being uninterested in the offers they received last week, Turkish mills declined to accept any of them, and continue this week to delay their purchases under the influence of the pressure from the rebar markets.
No conclusions of deep sea scrap bookings have been reported in the last ten days. Although pig iron cannot replace scrap completely, Turkish mills managed to locate pig iron tonnages and conclude pig iron bookings from Ukraine last week at a level of $340/mt. Although the Turkish mills expect deep sea scrap prices to soften further, under the influence of the higher freight rates it seems impossible that prices will see further decreases. According to market reports, deep sea scrap offers are at the levels of the latest concluded bookings, i.e. at $350/mt CFR Turkish ports for shredded scrap and at $345/mt CFR Turkish ports for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap. However, the actual prices will become clear with the first booking to be concluded.
As in previous weeks, the market situation is a bit different for A3 scrap ex-Black Sea. During last week, Turkish mills turned down many offers in the range of $320-330/mt CFR Turkish ports. Also this week, there are many A3 scrap offers ranging from $320/mt to $330/mt CFR Turkish ports, depending on the positions the Black Sea scrap suppliers have taken.
Small-tonnage scrap cargoes ex-Lebanon and ex-Israel are being offered to Turkish mills at around $310-315/mt CFR; however, these offers do not see much interest.
It is heard that some traders of deep sea scrap have come to Turkey ahead of the BIR conference to be held in Athens next week. As a result of the negotiations to be carried out in Turkey, it is predicted that some bookings will be concluded this week or, at the latest, during the BIR conference early next week.