Turkey started the week with news of two ex-EU scrap cargoes which were bought towards the end of last week, with deep sea scrap prices in the deals increasing once again. Despite the lack of steel demand in the domestic and export markets, the upward trend of deep sea and short sea scrap prices persisted in the following days. Since Turkish mills have decided to keep their production capacity utilization rates relatively stable, higher price levels have continued to be seen in scrap bookings. Meanwhile, US Northeast and Ohio Valley scrap prices have settled for November, with HMS prices increasing by $20/. European scrap collection prices are now above €300/mt DAP, as SteelOrbis has reported. At the end of the current week, Turkey’s import scrap prices have remained relatively stable. Since October 25, when prices started to move up from the average bottom price of $350/mt CFR, Turkey’s import scrap quotations have increased by $26/mt in total.
Under the current conditions, the deep sea benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in CFR terms have moved up by 2.87 percent week on week. The prices are now 3.16 percent higher month on month in the deep sea segment, with prices being in the range of $372-380/mt CFR.
US Northeast and Ohio Valley scrap prices have settled for November, at up $20/gt for HMS, P&S and shredded, and up $30/gt for busheling scrap.
After remaining stable in October, local Italian scrap prices have moved up in early November due to lower scrap availability and following the upward trend in the Turkish scrap market. Despite negative expectations for November, the local Italian scrap market has increased by an average of €2-15/mt compared to October’s average prices.
Despite the very small price increase in the local currency observed in the Kanto tender in Japan, the depreciation of the Japanese yen resulted in a decrease in dollar-based prices. On the other hand, it is observed that the traditional buyers at the Kanto tender returned to make bids this time, with the highest bid made by Vietnam. The average Kanto tender price was at JPY 50,238/mt FAS, indicating an increase of just JPY 2/mt, and so is considered more or less stable on Japanese yen basis.
Against the backdrop of the uptrend observed in the international scrap markets, Taiwan’s import scrap market has also moved up. Market players report rebar demand in Taiwan has been good this week, despite the slow rise of scrap prices. Offers for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers to Taiwan have increased over the past week from $359-360/mt CFR to $360-368/mt CFR. Japanese scrap suppliers are sharing offers for H1/2 (50:50) scrap by bulk to Taiwan at $370-376/mt CFR.