DAILY STEEL SCRAP: Turkish mills take a break from deep-sea bookings

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

Mills booked at least four deep-sea cargoes this week despite the holiday periods that have suspended trade in most of Turkey’s local market over the past two weeks.

The most recent deal was done on Thursday May 20, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo at $507.50 per tonne cfr on HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis.

Three other cargoes were booked on Tuesday May 18, a day before the national holiday in Turkey commemorating former president Kemal Atatürk.

A mill in the Iskenderun region bought a European cargo comprising 20,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $506.50 per tonne, 9,000 tonnes of bonus grade scrap at $516.50 per tonne and 500 tonnes of rail scrap at $521.50 per tonne.

A mill in the Izmir region booked a cargo from the UK comprising 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $500 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of shredded scrap at $520 per tonne.

And a mill in the Marmara region bought a Baltic cargo comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $507 per tonne and bonus grade scrap at $517 per tonne.

The lack of fresh trading activity on Friday left Fastmarkets’ daily scrap indices static at the end of the week.

Fastmarkets’ daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was calculated at $506.53 per tonne on Friday May 21, unchanged day on day.

And the corresponding daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), United States origin, cfr Turkey was also flat at $511.11 per tonne on May 20, leaving the premium for US material over European scrap at $4.58 per tonne on May 21.

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