Downward trend continues in Turkey’s scrap market

Some Turkish mills have decreased their domestic scrap buying prices, while imported scrap prices also continue to decline.

Slightly heavier supply than demand is causing scrap prices to continue declining. With Turkish mills confidently halting their purchases, the pressure on scrap prices is rising.

One Turkish mill bought 10,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 80:20 at $475/tonne, 25,000t of shredded at $495/t and 15,000t of bonus grade at $495/t cfr Turkey at the end of last week. With this booking, US-origin HMS 1&2 80:20 recorded a $10/t decrease on-week.

Some suppliers were subsequently heard to have further lowered their prices to Turkey. European offers for HMS 1&2 80:20 are heard to have decreased to below $470/t cfr.

A Turkish mill tells Kallanish: “Almost all suppliers have at least one cargo. Some even have August-shipment cargoes. We know we can easily achieve lower levels this week. Under the current situation, there is no need to rush. We prefer to wait and gauge the situation in rebar sales before buying scrap.”

A mill is heard to have bought ex-Romania scrap at $439/t cfr. Russian offers for HMS 1&2 90:10, meanwhile, are at $475/t cfr.

Demand for domestic scrap remains moderate and supply is also plentiful. Some Turkish mills have decreased their domestic scrap buying prices, while others have kept their prices unchanged since early June.

Rebar prices, meanwhile, decreased further on Wednesday in Turkey’s domestic market. Despite a slight increase in demand compared to Tuesday, mills have decreased their prices to $700-730/t ex-works.

Turkish shipbreaking scrap prices are seen varying between $455-480/t delivered, depending on mills’ requirements. New cutting (DKP) scrap prices in the Aegean region stand at TRY 3,640-4,200/t ($424-490). The lira was at 8.57 per dollar on Wednesday.

Burcak Alpman Turkey