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
Canadian specialty materials producer Neo Performance Materials officially launched a sintered neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnet plant in Narva, Estonia, on Friday September 19, and announced the completion of Europe's first dysprosium and terbium oxide production line.
Europe’s battery industry is being urged to prioritise energy storage systems over electric vehicle competition with China, as rising AI-driven power demand and grid pressures highlight the need for scalable storage solutions.
US wheat futures declined on Friday September 12 after the USDA increased global wheat ending stocks and production estimates for 2025/26 in its monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report.
Copper demand in data centers is accelerating as artificial intelligence drives higher power needs, advanced cooling systems and greater infrastructure requirements. This trend highlights both the opportunities and challenges around sustainability, domestic production and global supply chains.
The publication of several Fastmarkets steel scrap indices for the UK, European and Turkish markets were delayed on Monday September 15 because of a reporter error.
Fastmarkets is launching price assessments for MB-MAG-0020 magnesia, dead burned, 90% MgO, lump, cif Europe, $ per tonne, and for MB-MAG-0021 magnesia, dead burned, 97% MgO, lump, cif Europe, $ per tonne, on Tuesday September 16.