Turkey’s import scrap market is still under pressure with the same buyers in the market and the rest monitoring the situation. Despite the increasing domestic rebar prices, Turkish mills are still successfully pushing down their deep sea scrap prices.
An Iskenderun-based producer concluded a deal from the US yesterday, September 23, for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $368/mt CFR and shredded scrap at $388/mt CFR. The cargo will be shipped in October. The price in question is $1/mt higher than that in the previous ex-US booking, and so SteelOrbis has revised its reference price for this grade to $367-368/mt CFR.
An ex-Netherlands transaction was also closed by a Marmara-based producer for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $357/mt CFR, indicating a sharp price fall for ex-EU scrap, down from $362.38/mt CFR on average to $357/mt CFR in one deal. The gap between ex-Europe scrap and ex-US scrap is now larger than the differences recorded recently. Market sources question whether this gap may be maintained in the coming days. Another ex-Germany booking has been rumoured today, to have been done by an Iskenderun-based producer last Friday, with HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $361/mt CFR. As a result, SteelOrbis’ reference prices has been revised to $359/mt CFR on average.
Amid the lower price levels recorded in the EU segment, buyers’ ideas for workable levels for Romanian HMS I/II 80:20 scrap are now at around $340-350/mt CFR Turkey. No confirmed bookings have been heard at this level yet, though sources report it is impossible for sellers to accept these levels due to their own collection prices. “Short sea sellers have incurred losses at least in the last two rounds,” a source commented.
Some market sources question why deep sea scrap prices continue to move down while rebar prices in Turkey are increasing on the back of livelier demand. “Domestic rebar prices are almost $20/mt higher than the most recent exports, higher than wire rod prices and higher than rebars in coils. The vacancy created by Habas in the Izmir region (the producer is reported to be sending large tonnages of rebar to the Iskenderun region) is now filled by other players who ask for higher prices. But there is also a significant volume of billets due to arrive in Turkey,” a source in the steel market commented today, September 24. Another source stated, “The correlation between domestic rebar and import scrap prices seems to have been broken in September. There is downward pressure on European scrap collection prices too. We expect EU scrap prices to move down in the coming month, which may give exporters some room.”