Trading in steel scrap in the global markets was limited in the week to Friday July 7 due to a lack of support from the finished steel markets.• Turkish mills make minimum deep-sea bookings due to weaker steel sales
• US deep-sea exports follow fragile Turkish rebar market downward
• Scrap prices in China rangebound due to weak fundamentals for finished steel
• Vietnam import market falls due to slow finished steel demand, weaker alternative markets
• Taiwan market bearish on lack of support from finished steel
• Indian demand also undermined by poor domestic steel sales; scrap import prices down.
Turkey
Turkish steelmakers kept their deep sea scrap buying slow in the week to July 7, amid limited sales in the country’s domestic and export markets for finished steel, sources told Fastmarkets.
The most recent deep-sea deals were heard on July 4, when a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (85:15) at $381 per tonne, and shredded and bonus at $399 per tonne CFR. The same mill also booked a European cargo of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $369 per tonne CFR.
Pricing history
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), Northern Europe origin, cfr Turkey.
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US origin, cfr Turkey.
United States
“Very weak” sentiment in the Turkish rebar market put further pressure on US deep-sea export prices to the region, which tracked incrementally lower in a fresh deal heard over the US’ Fourth of July holiday.
Pricing history
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), export index, fob New York.
steel scrap, shredded scrap, export index, fob New York.
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), export index, fob Los Angeles.
Vietnam
Spot prices for ferrous scrap imported into Vietnam dropped in the week to July 7 due to slow demand for finished steel products and a downtrend in alternative markets, Fastmarkets heard.
Pricing history
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam.
China
Domestic scrap prices were steady in China over the week with demand and supply both soft. Prices for scrap imported into China were also rangebound due to thin trading. Factors such as buyers’ pessimism about near-term steel demand, and a persistent gap between bids and offers, contributed to a muted market for scrap imports.
Pricing history
steel scrap, index, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr north China.
steel scrap, index, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr east China.
Taiwan
Spot prices for containerized steel scrap imported into Taiwan dropped over the week, with market participants expecting more of a downtrend to come due to weakness in Taiwan’s finished steel market. Deal prices for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) fell to $365 per tonne CFR Taiwan on Thursday, from $370-375 per tonne early in the week.
Pricing history
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan.
India
Import prices to India dropped this week amid slow buying interest, with sources pointing to poor finished steel sales domestically. Steel sales have been poor for much of this year and, with the monsoon season having started, were not expected to to improve before September.
Pricing history
steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India.
Published by: Cem Turken, Lee Allen, Amy Hinton, Ross Yeo, Tianran Zhao
