As the downtrend continues in Turkey’s import scrap market, the last deep sea deal closed late last week has not changed the picture.
SteelOrbis has learned that an ex-Netherlands deal was closed by an Izmir-based producer for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $333/mt CFR. This deal was one of the last transactions done in November and the price was $4/mt lower than the previous ex-EU bookings.
The latest deal price has not come as a surprise to most market players. Turkey was already exerting significant pressure on all scrap prices, regardless of origin, domestic or imports. Turkish mills are also reducing their domestic scrap procurement prices. The high number of offers in the market is not helping suppliers, though some have started to voice their intention to postpone their sales instead of forcing for December shipments. “Already Turkey has concluded its purchases for December shipments, but there are still cargoes available for this period. They are now automatically postponed for January shipments or will have to be sold very quickly due to the shorter delivery term in December ahead of the holidays,” a source commented. Meanwhile, the increasing military tensions in Syria are not helping the mood in Turkey. In the meantime, US president-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on BRIC countries if they create a rival currency to the US dollar. As a result of this announcement, the US dollar is once again gaining strength against the major currencies, such as the euro, which has a big impact on Europe’s scrap export prices.
Turkey’s scrap imports totaled 16.4 million m int the January-October period this year, with a monthly 1.64 million mt on average. This monthly average is slightly higher than Turkey’s 2023 average for scrap imports, which stood at 1.54 million nt per month. In the January-October 2024 period, Turkey’s import billet purchases totaled 2.8 million mt, 280,000 mt per month. Last year, the monthly average for billets was 256,362 mt.