Deepsea scrap dealers stick to higher offers in attempt to consolidate earlier gains

Suppliers of premium heavy melting scrap kept their offers for Turkey unchanged at above $370/mt CFR on Oct. 11 in an attempt to consolidate earlier gains.

The prices of HMS 1/2 (80:20) had already reached $371-$373/mt CFR Turkey in the week to Oct. 7, but the number of actual deals was still low. With more requirements from Turkish buyers for November shipments, scrap recyclers decided to wait and see whether similar price levels can be repeated in the next trades.

The offers for the US HMS 1/2 (80:20) were not confirmed but indications were still above $370/mt CFR, with a Turkish agent seeing the workable level at up to $375/mt CFR.

A US recycler put a workable level at $373/mt CFR Turkey for HMS 1/2 (80:20). An agent active in the US scrap trade believed that the market had to stay around $373/mt CFR as US suppliers found better pricing in India and Bangladesh.

According to a European trader, some Turkish buyers were trying to push the price back to $370/mt CFR or lower for premium quality HMS. At the same time, US/Baltic scrap sellers sought to sell in the $375-$380/mt CFR range. Regarding the EU scrap, most suppliers were well booked and indicated $365-$366/mt CFR, the trader added.

The European trader observed generally flat scrap pricing on Oct.11, which may continue until the following week. Sellers were trying to assess the situation with the collection cost, which for the time being remained stable, not giving dealers room to drop their prices.

The heavy melting scrap dock prices in Belgium were heard at around Eur330/mt delivered to the dock, a recycler said. One supplier was also heard to be paying as high as Eur340-350/mt delivered to the dock. A Benelux recycler put a new offer for prompt shipment at a minimum $370/mt CFR Turkey.

Turkish scrap buyers were hesitant and preferred to wait and evaluate the finished steel sales opportunities, with more demand expected in the Americas and East Mediterranean markets.

Platts assessed Turkish imports of premium heavy melting scrap 1/2 (80:20) at $372/mt CFR Oct. 11 unchanged from Oct 10, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.

On Oct. 11, Platts assessed the LME scrap future contract for October stable from Oct. 10 at $368.50/mt. However, the November contract fell $9/mt to $356/mt on Oct. 11, strengthening the backwardated structure over the October to November portion of the near-term forward curve. This indicated that futures traders were expecting scrap prices in the physical market to soften significantly in the immediate near term.

— Wojtek Laskowski, Rabia Arif, Viral Shah