Turkey: Imported Scrap Prices Continue to Rise On Strong Buying

SteelMint learned from industry participants that Turkish steel mills have turned active towards closing of the week witnessing flurry of cargoes witnessing almost 8-10 cargoes getting booked at further increased prices. Imported scrap prices continued upward movement following strong buying activities reported on supportive finished steel prices as a result of lowering of tariffs to 25% on Turkish steel imports by the US government.

In recent deal confirmed, a Benelux origin supplier sold a mixed cargo to a Samsun based steelmaker comprising 7,500 MT HMS 1&2 (75:25), 22,000 MT of mixture of P&S and HMS1 scrap, 8,000 MT of New cuttings and 2,500 MT of cutted rails scrap at an average price of USD 320/MT, CFR Turkey.

US supplier sold 27,000 MT of HMS 1&2 (90:10) at USD 316/MT and 13,000 MT of Shredded at USD 318/MT, CFR Turkey. One US June shipment cargo sold earlier comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at USD 312/MT, Shredded at USD 317/MT and Bonus at USD 327/MT, CFR.

In a deal concluded on Thursday, one Baltic recycler sold a cargo to a Samsun steelmaker including HMS 1/2 (80:20) at USD 313/MT, Shredded at USD 318/MT and bonus at USD 323/MT, CFR.

After normalizing these deals, SteelMint’s assessment of US origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) scrap has increased to USD 313-315/MT, CFR Turkey. In line with this, an assessment of Europe origin HMS stands at around USD 309-310/MT, CFR. A premium of US material over Northern European scrap stands at around USD 4-5/MT.

Earlier to this, A Marmara based steelmaker booked 22,500 MT of HMS 1&2 at USD 308/MT, CFR. While two more cargoes from Baltic origin concluded with one comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at USD 310.75/MT and Bonus at USD 320.75/MT, CFR while another comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at USD 310.5/MT and Bonus at USD 320.5/MT, CFR.

Turkish steel mills eye high rebar export prices – Turkish rebar export offers jumped on US tariff cut however, limited buying interest was seen in the market. Rebar reference export prices stood in the range of USD 475-485/MT, FoB on an actual weight basis to SouthEast Asian buyers. Steel mills eye offers as high as USD 485-500/MT, FoB but no buyers were interested yet to conclude the deal at these levels in the market.