Posted on 11 Jan 2023
Turkish mills’ demand for scrap remained quite weak on Tuesday as they are currently focusing on steel sales after pressure eased amid increased availability of the feedstock.
Turkish mills withdrew from scrap purchases on Friday following the significant rise in the number of scrap offers towards the end of last week (see Kallanish passim).
No deep-sea scrap deal has been heard in the Turkish market so far this week. The latest bookings appeared at $414/tonne for HMS 1&2 80:20 and $434/ cfr Turkey for shredded from Germany, and $412/t for HMS 1&2 80:20 and $437/t cfr for bonus grade from the UK. These point to a sideways trend in scrap prices as EU-origin HMS 1&2 80:20 was also sold at $414/t cfr last week.
After scrap prices reached a level acceptable for suppliers, the number of offers in the Turkish market increased towards the end of last week. On the other hand, Turkish mills, now receiving a sufficient number of offers but struggling to sell rebar, have withdrawn from the market.
Although US suppliers are willing to sell HMS 1&2 80:20 at above $425/t cfr and European sellers are targeting prices at above $415/t cfr, some market players do not find these values workable under current conditions. There are numerous sellers in the market and buyers’ appetite is weak.
Some mills are seen inquiring in the short-sea market, although short-sea offers are quite scarce. The latest bookings appeared at $400-405/t cfr. Mills are trying to procure missing volumes from the short-sea and domestic markets, and have increased domestic and shipbreaking scrap buying prices further. Consequently, shipbreaking scrap prices increased to $395-408/t delivered on Tuesday.
“A sideways trend or a slight softening in prices is more likely. I can definitely say the uptick has stopped,” says one Turkish mill.
Another mill, however, finds further increases possible and adds: “The scrap business has lost its logic and totally become a seller’s market. We’ve recently seen a sharp increase in prices for no [obvious] reason, which means we may experience the same once again.”
A scrap supplier thinks prices will, in the best-case scenario, stay at current levels for now, and Turkish mills will then have to pay even higher when they return to the market.
Besides lacking rebar export sales, domestic rebar demand remained weak on Tuesday despite the launch of a new housing project last week. Mills’ offers stood at $720-741/t ex-works, while prices below $715/t were available from stockists.
Source:Kallanish
