Turkey buys two North American scrap cargoes

Two Turkish mills have returned to the North American deep-sea ferrous scrap market to secure one cargo each from the United States and Canada.

A Canadian exporter sold a cargo of unspecified tonnage to a Turkish mill comprising No1 heavy melting scrap priced at $480 per tonne cfr and shredded scrap and bonus-grade material priced at $490 per tonne cfr, Fastmarkets learned on Monday January 10.

An exporter on the US East Coast sold a cargo to a separate mill in Turkey that comprised an unknown proportion of No1 and No2 HMS priced at $472 per tonne cfr and shredded scrap at $492 per tonne cfr, it emerged on the same date.

The last deals from Canada to Turkey were reported on December 21, when the same exporter sold two cargoes: one included HMS 1&2 (95:5) priced at $476 per tonne and bonus-grade material at $486 per tonne cfr and another comprising HMS 1&2 (95:5) priced at $482.50 per tonne. The HMS 1&2 (95:5) portion of these sales was estimated at $469 per tonne and $475.50 per tone respectively on an 80:20 HMS basis, given the $7-per-tonne premium typically paid for HMS 1&2 (95:5) over an 80:20 mix of the grade.

The prior US East Coast sale to Turkey was reported on January 5 and comprised 26,000 tonnes of an 85:15 mix of No1 and No2 HMS priced at $472 per tonne and bonus-grade material at $487 per tonne cfr. This sale is equivalent to $469 per tonne cfr on an HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis, given the $3-per-tonne premium that the 85:15 mix of the grade commands over the 80:20 mix.

The precise trajectory of US and Canadian scrap prices in these latest cargo sales is not clear, given that the grades do not directly correspond to the previous sales to Turkey.

But participants expect further upside for the US export market. Prices for US-origin scrap have been on the rebound since the export market found a bottom at $460 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) on December 24.