DAILY STEEL SCRAP: Turkish mills resume deep-sea purchases, prices down $6/tonne

Turkish steel producers returned to the deep-sea scrap import market at the start of the week, booking cargoes from a range of locations at lower prices, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday April 19.

At the end of the last week, a steel mill in the Izmir region booked a European cargo at $417 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).

And a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Venezuelan shipment of 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $415.50 per tonne cfr.

However, the Venezuelan cargo was not taken into the index calculation, as it was not a traditional supplier.

These deals compared with the previous deep-sea cargo sold on April 9, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region paid an average price of $436 per tonne cfr for 35,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) and 15,000 tonnes of shredded.

As a result of the fresh transactions on Monday, the daily scrap indices went down.

Fastmarkets’ daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was calculated at $417 per tonne on April 19, down by $6.27 per tonne day on day.

And the daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey was $422.97 per tonne on Monday April 19, also down by $6.27 per tonne day on day, leaving the premium for US material over European scrap at $5.97 per tonne.

In addition, a steel mill in the Iskenderun region was heard adding more HMS 1&2 (80:20) to its previously purchased UK cargo at $422 per tonne cfr.

And another European cargo came to light after the calculation of the indices, with a mill in the Izmir region booking another European cargo at $416 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).

Suppliers in the United States and the Baltic Sea were trying to maintain their existing offer prices, market sources said.

“Deep-sea scrap import prices have gone down as expected,” a Turkish mill source said. “Suppliers in the US, for example, are still aiming to sell at $430 per tonne cfr and above, as they have good domestic demand. However, the new price level for Turkey is $415-420 per tonne cfr, [so] mills will not want to pay any higher.”

A supplier in the Baltic Sea region, meanwhile, told Fastmarkets it had a cargo on offer at around $425 per tonne cfr on HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis.

What to read next
Due to the Eid -Al-Adha public holiday, which began on Thursday June 5 and will run through to Monday June 9 inclusive, these prices will be published instead on Tuesday June 10, in accordance with Fastmarkets’ policy. These prices are usually published weekly on Mondays. This change was not initially noted on Fastmarkets’ 2025 pricing […]
The rationale for MB-CO-0004 cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb had erroneously stated that an indication at $18.50-20.00 per lb was included in the assessment. This has been corrected to explain the indication was made outside of the pricing window, and had therefore been discarded. The published price is unaffected by this change. These prices are a […]
Turkey has become the leading buyer of Ukrainian corn during the 2024/2025 marketing year by making use of import quotas, which have been a key factor supporting prices in recent months.
Soybean futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange held broadly steady in the front end of the curve on Thursday May 29, while contracts for farther delivery months faced some downward pressure.
Fastmarkets published its assessment of the MB-STE-0232 steel scrap No1 busheling, consumer buying price, delivered mill Chicago, $/gross ton on Thursday June 5, 2025.
US and European wheat futures rose on Thursday May 29 amid technical buying while market participants shrugged off projections of robust crops in Russia, India and the EU.