Imported ferrous scrap market in Turkey remained quiet for last two weeks. Turkish steel mills continued to delay new bulk scrap bookings, as buyers are expecting a further fall in offers and considering sluggish domestic finished steel market sentiments.
SteelMint’s assessment for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the USA remained at $295/t CFR Turkey, down by $3 w-o-w.
It seems like buyers and suppliers both prefer to wait-and-watch at the moment.
On the other hand, the price of other key raw materials – iron ore has seen a sharp drop after decline in Chinese iron ore futures. Spot iron ore fines (Fe 62%) prices in China decreased further yesterday to $114/t CFR China, down by $8 w-o-w. Prices have softened by around $17/t since the beginning of last week.
On the other side, Turkish currency – Lira continued to hit new record lows, and currently, trading at 7.6 against 1 dollar, as compared to 7.55 lira recorded a week ago.
According to some recent reports, IREPAS Chairman in a recent webinar indicated that downward price correction in scrap is expected as Turkish mills prefer to use billet over imported scrap.
Notably, scrap prices plummeted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April, particularly as steel manufacturing shut down on lockdowns. But by June and July, ferrous scrap prices began to rebound and hit a seven-months high in early-Sept’20
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