DAILY STEEL SCRAP: Mills push for lower deep-sea prices

Turkish steel producers continued to push for lower deep-sea scrap prices, while suppliers in the Baltic Sea and United States continued to maintain higher offers, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 20.

At least three deep-sea cargoes were booked on Friday April 16.

The most recent was heard after the indices closed on Monday April 19.

A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a European cargo at $416 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20). The cargo breakdown, however, was not clear at the time of publication.

A deal for a European cargo of the same material was done at $417 per tonne cfr on.

As a result of the latest European transaction, the daily scrap indices inched down on Tuesday April 20.

Fastmarkets’ daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was calculated at $416.25 per tonne on April 20, down by $0.75 per tonne day on day.

And the daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey was $422.22 per tonne on Tuesday, also down by $0.75 per tonne day on day, leaving the premium for US material over European scrap at $5.97 per tonne.

Turkish steelmakers were pushing for $415-420 per tonne for HMS 1&2 (80:20) but Baltic Sea suppliers were still offering material at $425 per tonne or higher on Tuesday, while the US scrap was on offer at $430 per tonne cfr.

“It seems the prices will remain firm on the supplier side, but the buyers are not accepting the current offers, [which are] $5-10 per tonne higher than the previous bookings,” said a trading source.

In the meantime, offers for short-sea A3-grade scrap were around $405 per tonne cfr from the Black Sea.

What to read next
Fastmarkets launched two new aluminium scrap prices on Thursday, April 9, adding to Fastmarkets’ suite of recycled non-ferrous metals price assessments. The launch will elevate and expand Fastmarkets’ aluminium scrap coverage by including the following grades: Section 232 tariffs and the resulting high aluminium premiums have led to increased costs and rising interest in recycled […]
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement, set to take provisional effect in 2026, aims to reduce trade barriers between the two regions. However, the deal faces significant opposition from environmental groups and EU agricultural sectors. For the pulp and paper industry, the effects will be phased in over several years, with an analysis by Cepi showing that tariff reductions will be gradual, eventually benefiting about 85% of EU pulp exports and 90% of paper and board exports.
Crop-based biodiesel became cheaper than fossil diesel in the EU for the first time on Thursday April 2, when premiums for core crop grades FAME 0 (fatty acid methyl ester 0) and RME (rapeseed methyl ester) over ICE gasoil fell into negative territory.
Fastmarkets is proposing to launch new price series for its benchmark European PIX Pulp gross prices and North American effective list pulp prices from June 1, 2026. The new prices would run concurrently alongside existing prices for one year before the existing prices with higher discount levels are discontinued on June 1, 2027.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ European low-carbon aluminium differential assessments for Thursday April 2 were delayed because of a procedural error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-AL-0379 Aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, ddp Italy (Brescia region), inferred low-carbon, and Aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, ddp North Germany (Ruhr region), inferred low-carbon midpoint assessments, which were published incorrectly on Friday April 2, due to a procedural error.