In Turkey, a price strengthening has been seen in the most recent import scrap transaction, although many have doubts whether the trend will be sustainable. Particularly, most of the sources say more deals are required to see a clearer situation, while the potential of the finished steel demand might not be enough to support the rebound in the import scrap.
The most recent scrap deal has been concluded by a Marmara region-based mill for an ex-France cargo. The buyer has agreed to pay $377.5/mt CFR for 12,000 mt of HMS I/II (80:20), $397.5/mt CFR for 5,000 mt of shredded, 6,000 mt of bonus grade and for 2,000 mt of scrap close in quality to P&S scrap, according to sources. The previous indication for European scrap was fixed at $368/mt CFR for an ex-UK cargo, reported at the end of the past week.
Taking into account the French scrap sale to Turkey, the evaluation for ex-Baltic HMS I/II (80:20) scrap has indicatively increased to $380-383/mt CFR versus $375/mt CFR, which was a little earlier fixed in a deal from Latvia. The indications for the ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap have increased from $381/mt CFR to $383-385/mt CFR.
Despite the ex-EU scrap prices have been clearly increased, many market players are still full of doubts and believe it is a bit early to talk about a full time rebound. “With the current finished product market, it will be difficult, only if this [price increase for scrap] activates demand on finished steel side and we see better business, then maybe,” a trader said. Many sources also are cautious in their evaluations and are waiting for more deals to be seen so that the trend is proven. “It still easily might slide again and sometimes it [an inched-up price] is just a dead cat bounce,” a trader told SteelOrbis.