DAILY STEEL SCRAP: Holiday periods slow down Turkish bookings

Turkish market participants were not working on Thursday July 15 because the country was celebrating its Democracy and National Unity Day.

The Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday will be observed during the coming working week, so trade is expected to be limited until Monday July 26.

Steel mills in Turkey booked five deep-sea cargoes earlier this week.

A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo comprising 28,000 tonnes of heavy melting scrap 1&2 (75:25) and 2,000 tonnes of a mixture of bonus and HMS 1 at an average price of $486.50 per tonne cfr on Monday.

The same mill also booked a 14,000-tonne United States cargo consisting of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $493 per tonne and shredded at $508 per tonne cfr. This volume was in addition to a previous cargo booked on June 16 at $500 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).

Also on Monday, a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo comprising 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $485 per tonne, 20,000 tonnes of shredded and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at $500 per tonne cfr.

The same mill booked a second US cargo consisting of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $485 per tonne and shredded at $500 per tonne cfr.

And a steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Canadian cargo comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $489 per tonne and 20,000 tonnes of shredded at $499 per tonne cfr on Tuesday.

As a result of the lack of trading activity, the daily scrap indices were stable on Friday.

Fastmarkets’ daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was calculated at $476.93 per tonne, unchanged day on day, while the corresponding index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey was calculated at $484.56 per tonne, also flat day on day.

This kept the premium for US material over European scrap at $7.63 per tonne on Friday.