Turkey has started to look for deep sea scrap cargoes for shipment in August, but the mood in the market is relaxed. Market sources believe July may be slower in terms of the pace of deep sea scrap purchases as compared to June.
SteelOrbis has heard that an Iskenderun-based producer has concluded a deal for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $389.5/mt CFR, with shredded and bonus grade scrap at $409.5/mt CFR. This price is just $0.5/mt higher than the price recorded in previous ex-US scrap bookings.
There was another rumor of an ex-UK deal done by an Izmir-based producer with HMS I/II 80:20 scrap standing at $387/mt CFR, but this information was denied by the supposed buyer. Hence, SteelOrbis’ ex-EU scrap prices are still at $384-387.5/mt CFR.
Most market sources believe that, with some European mills taking a break for the holidays, there will also be others in the collection segment leaving the market over the holiday period. Hence, the European scrap segment is expected to remain firm. Meanwhile, expectations for the local US scrap market largely point to a soft movement, while some believe a drop of around $20/mt is possible when the July buy-cycle begins. Turkish steel mills are still in trouble with the lack of steel demand. While they are having difficulty increasing prices for the local market, demand from rebar traders is slowing down. A trader commented, “July usually is an uptrending month, but our trading has declined a lot. There is not enough cash in the market and the additional taxes announced for almost everything are taking their toll on steel too. We hear a major Izmir-based producer is now even selling to Iskenderun. This means some producers are quite willing to cut their prices to increase sales tonnages, while others do not have this possibility or margins.”