Benelux scrap reaches €500 threshold

Scrap prices in the Benelux have reached €500/tonne ($543) on the back of restricted supply and strong demand.

Benelux exporters, which have been facing limited material inflow for a while and increased their prices sharply last week, have been forced to further increase their dock prices. On Monday, dock prices stood mostly at €480-490/t delivered in Belgium, and increased to €500/t delivered in the Netherlands. Flow, however, is yet to pick up, even at these levels.

A Dutch exporter tells Kallanish: “Domestic suppliers, in expectation of higher prices, are holding material. At €500/t, I could only source 5,000 tonnes today. No one can foresee where the peak will be. I guess they will start selling when prices start to go down.”

A Belgian exporter expects to see €500/t materialise sooner as he is struggling to buy material at €490/t.

In Turkey, sharp price increases are continuing amid strong demand. Following the latest confirmed EU-origin booking at $623/t cfr Turkey over the weekend, European suppliers were seen targeting to sell HMS 1&2 80:20 at above $650/t cfr on Monday.

Although there are talks about a higher-priced – above $640/t cfr – EU-origin HMS 1&2 80:20 booking, the seller and buyer are yet to be confirmed.

Multiple EU-origin bookings were concluded in Turkey last week. Initial bookings at the beginning of the week stood at $517/t cfr levels, while overall through last week prices ballooned by more than $120/t.

One US supplier is heard to have cancelled its previous sale to a Turkish mill in the Black Sea amid the war in Ukraine. A European supplier, meanwhile, is heard struggling to find a vessel to the Marmara region as most ships are also refusing to sail to Marmara due to its proximity to the Black Sea.

Prices in the Indian sub-continent are also increasing, though at a slower pace compared to Turkey. Following the latest containerised shredded bookings at $585-590/t cfr Nhava Sheva, offers are seen to have exceeded $595/t cfr. HMS 1&2 80:20 import prices stood at $530-540/t cfr in the latest bookings, meanwhile.

Burcak Alpman Turkey