DAILY STEEL SCRAP: Mills continue deep-sea purchases despite rising prices

A steel mill in northern Turkey booked 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the Baltic Sea at $432 per tonne cfr.

A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a second Baltic sea cargo of 17,000 tonne of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $426 per tonne cfr.

And another steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $432 per tonne, shredded at $437 per tonne and plate & structural (P&S) scrap at $442 per tonne cfr.

These deals were done on April 27-28 and scheduled to be shipped in June.

The previous booking in the deep-sea market was a Baltic Sea cargo of 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) sold at $427.50 per tonne cfr.

As a result of the fresh transactions, the daily scrap indices moved up on Wednesday.

Fastmarkets’ daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was calculated at $426.60 per tonne on Wednesday, up by $1.04 per tonne day on day.

And the daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, was calculated at $432.57 per tonne, also up by $1.04 per tonne on the day, leaving the premium for US material over European scrap at $5.97 per tonne.

Market participants said the slight recovery in the domestic rebar market and strong export sales had helped the mills buy more scrap.

“Domestic rebar demand recovered today despite the Ramadan slowdown and the full lockdown the country is about to enter. It seems most of the construction projects will be excluded from the lockdown and trade will continue. We managed to sell rebar at $630 ($743 including 18% VAT) per tonne ex-works today,” said a Turkish mill source.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 5,950-6,100 lira ($723-741) per tonne, including VAT, on Thursday April 22, up from 5,800-5,900 lira per tonne a week earlier.

In addition, the confirmation that the Chinese government will be canceling its export tax rebate on some steel products has raised hopes for better demand for Turkish steel in Asia, market participants said.