Turkey, the world’s leading buyer of ferrous scrap, recorded imports of the material at 1.96 million tonnes (mn t) in Aug’21, a decrease of 17% against 2.35 mn t in Jul’21, as per SteelMint data.
Demand for imported ferrous scrap decreased as Turkish players remained quiet and adopted a wait-and-watch stance due to disparities in bids and offers owing to dull finished steel demand in both the domestic and overseas markets.
Imported scrap trade slowed down in the absence of market players owing to Eid holidays in mid-Jul’21.
Imported scrap volumes into Turkey, however, rose by 4% y-o-y from 1.89 mn t in Aug’20.
Market highlights:
- US, Russia emerge as major exporters: The US stood as the top exporter of ferrous scrap to Turkey with 0.28 mn t in Aug’21 as against 0.18 mn t in Jul’21. Russia was the second-largest exporter with 0.24 mn t, followed by the UK at 0.19 mn t in Aug’21, as per SteelMint data.
- Prices fall in Jul’21: SteelMint’s assessment of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) stood at $486/t CFR Turkey in Jul’21 and $503/t CFR in Jun’21, down by around $15-20/t m-o-m.
- Volatility in exchange rates: The Turkish lira appreciated to 8.39 against the dollar in end-Aug’21 as compared to 8.52 in end-Jul’21.
- Automobile sales down in Aug’21: The Turkish automobile and light commercial vehicles sales declined by 5% y-o-y in Aug’21 to 58,454 units, mainly due to the semiconductor shortage, according to official data published by the Automotive Distributors Association (ODD).
Leave a Reply