Limited steel scrap supply keeps import prices in Turkey high

Turkish steel producers continued to face weak demand for finished steel products in the export markets and locally

Limited supplies and relatively active alternative markets have kept prices for imported recyclable steel elevated, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday August 23.

A new deal for US-origin scrap at $402 per tonne cfr, made on August 22, came to light after the indices were filed on August 23, and any correction in the indices for Northern Europe- and United States-origin imported scrap was expected to be reflected during Wednesday’s pricing session.

Meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ calculation of its daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, was calculated at $394.72 per tonne on August 23, unchanged day-on-day, but down by $5.01 per tonne from $399.73 per tonne on August 16.

The corresponding calculation of the daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was $389.06 per tonne on Tuesday, also unchanged day-on-day and also down by $5.01 per tonne from $394.07 per tonne one week earlier.

This left the premium for US material over European steel scrap at $5.66 per tonne on August 23.

According to Worldsteel data, Turkey cut its steel production in July by 20.7% year-on-year.

A producer source said that this trend was expected to extend into August and September because of the weak demand for finished steel.

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