Turkey’s deep sea scrap prices may stabilize in the coming deals for scrap cargoes. A total of 23-24 deals for February shipment have been signed, with an estimated further six to nine deals needed to be done for shipment in February. However, several market sources confirmed that postponements have been sought for ex-Baltic cargoes due to the difficult winter conditions. One source commented, “Vessels in the region cannot be loaded due to snow.”
Meanwhile, an ex-UK deal disclosed to the market late yesterday, January 10, was booked on Tuesday this week. The cargo bought by a Marmara-based producer consists of HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $417/mt CFR and shredded scrap at $442/mt CFR, for February shipment. The $25/mt price difference between the grades attracted attention. SteelOrbis will keep its ex-EU scrap price at $422-423/mt CFR, since this deal was a relatively older one.
Additionally, an ex-Baltic transaction was done by an Iskenderun-based mill with HMS I/II 80:20 scrap standing at $423/mt CFR, for February shipment. The total tonnage in the cargo is 38,000 mt. As a result, SteelOrbis’ ex-Baltic price will indicate a small downward correction of $1/mt from the previous deal, ex-Sweden, closed at $425/mt CFR.
The postponements from the Baltic region may increase interest in short sea scrap in the coming period. For now, the current situation is not expected to create huge gaps in Turkish producers’ future inventory levels. Also, scrap prices in the US Northeast have settled at mostly sideways this month, as sellers in that region largely resisted mills’ attempts to take prices down. However, prices in other parts of the US have not been as stable. Offers for imported shredded scrap in containers in Pakistan have been stable or have increased a little compared to last week, while trading has remained very poor. Kardemir has announced domestic billet prices at $580/mt ex-works for S235JR grade and $590/mt ex-works for B420 grade. The producer received demand for a total of 56,500 mt. In the import segment, the indications for ex-Russia/Donbass billet are at $540-550/mt CFR, while the most recent sale was closed at $551/mt CFR, as SteelOrbis reported. It may also be important to note that the Turkish lira-US dollar exchange rate has hit the psychological threshold of TRY 30.00 to the dollar. The depreciation of the Turkish lira has the potential to support rebar trading in the domestic market. Local rebar demand in Turkey has remained stagnant with workable domestic prices from producers standing in the range of $620-625/mt ex-works. Traders’ prices are slightly below these levels. Due to the winter conditions in Turkey, activity in the construction sector is slow and is not expected to show a significant recovery before spring. Turkish rebar exports are also very slow, Turkish mills are cautious as regards accepting deals for longer-term deliveries, particularly with buyers in the Red Sea region.