WEEKLY SCRAP WRAP: Prices up as Turkish steel mills resume deep-sea bookings

Turkish steel mills returned to the deep-sea scrap markets amid better domestic steel demand, causing prices to rise, while other major markets except Vietnam were largely stable during the working week ended Friday May 8.

  • Turkish steel producers resume deep-sea bookings, prices up
  • US scrap export market silent; dock buying prices flat
  • Sentiment in the Vietnamese scrap import market positive due to increased demand and expectations of higher prices
  • Volatile import prices in Taiwan create an unclear price outlook in the short term
  • Scrap trade still on hold, with the lockdown to remain in place for many parts of the country.

Turkey
Steel producers in Turkey returned to the deep-sea scrap import markets last week, buying at least five deep-sea cargoes, in response to the recovery of long steel demand in the local markets, Fastmarkets was told on Monday May 11.

A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 24,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $251.75 per tonne and 6,000 tonnes of bonus at $261.75 per tonne cfr on May 8.

Another steel mill in the Marmara region also booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $252 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $262 per tonne cfr on May 7.

Those compared with earlier Baltic Sea bookings at $242 per tonne in the previous week.

Three more cargoes were also heard from earlier last week.

A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a UK cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $245 per tonne and bonus at $255 per tonne cfr.

Another steel mill in the same region booked a US cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $242 per tonne, shredded at $247 per tonne and bonus at $252 per tonne cfr.

A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $241.50 per tonne and bonus at $251.50 per tonne cfr.

The breakdowns for those deals were not clear at the time of publication.

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
The ferrous scrap export markets in the United States were largely quiet and the export yard buying prices remained largely stable until the bookings from Turkish steel mills were heard.

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
Sentiment in the Vietnamese scrap import market was bullish due to strengthened demand and expectations of higher prices for the Kanto Tetsugen auction to be concluded on May 12.

Pricing history
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam

Taiwan
Major Japanese scrap suppliers returned from a holiday, but buyers in Taiwan were still waiting for a clearer price trend, because prices have been highly volatile recently.

Pricing history
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan

India
Most of India was still under lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which kept the scrap trade on hold. Prices were largely stable because of the lack of fresh trading activity.

Pricing history
steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India