Turkish steel mills skipped the second working day of the week with no deep-sea bookings amid negative signals from the Chinese steel industry, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday May 25.

Market chatter about China possibly imposing new export taxes for steel as part of commodity price cooling measures has been rampant in the past week, causing traders and market participants to re-think their trading strategies, and overseas buyers to consider a potential supply shortfall.

Turkish steel scrap import prices have so far held firm despite a sharp drop in China’s steel and scrap markets this week.

Turkish steel producers skipped the last working day of the week with no deep-sea bookings, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday May 21.

Surging steel demand in the majority of global markets pushed prices up in most regions in the week to Friday May 14. Only the United States deep-sea ferrous scrap market remained inactive, while Chinese scrap prices fell victim to softer prices for finished steel products.

Turkish steel mills remained absent from the deep-sea market on Friday May 14 as a result of the post-Ramadan Eid al-Fitr holiday, sources told Fastmarkets.

Turkish steel producers continued to pay higher prices for deep-sea scrap after securing more billet sales into China, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday May 11.

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in the EU increased in the week to Friday May 7, with ArcelorMittal and some other mills further increasing their offer prices.

Global steel scrap prices surged in the week to Friday May 7 and could well break through the $500 per tonne cfr mark, starting in Asia, market sources have told Fastmarkets.

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