Turkey’s import scrap market has continued its upward trend over the past week. Turkey has made a fast start to its purchases for December shipment, anticipated the long holiday period which means a shorter month for business. Turkey’s confirmed deep sea scrap cargoes have reached 22-25, including those heard this week.
An ex-US scrap deal is reported to have been done by an Izmir-based producer with HMS I/II 80:20 scrap standing at $383/mt CFR, while an ex-Baltic deal was closed by an Izmir-based producer for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $380/mt CFR. These prices are in line with SteelOrbis’ estimations for these grades after the ex-EU deals recorded earlier this week.
Meanwhile, European steel producers have increased their procurement prices by €5-7/mt this week, pushing E1 grade scrap prices to €300-305/mt delivered and E2 grade prices to €330-340/mt delivered. Higher levels were also recorded as the mills started to ask for scrap earlier, though market sources report that the actual tonnages in deals have been on the low side. Meanwhile, a source at a major Turkish mill said on November 17 that he is expecting finished steel demand to decrease sharply and so deep sea scrap prices are currently close to their peak level. Although the recent rise in deep sea scrap prices is considered to be unhealthy by several producers, some sellers are voicing higher levels for ex-US HSM I/II 80:20, closer to $390s/mt CFR.
Under the current conditions, the deep sea benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in CFR terms have moved up by 0.8 percent week on week. The prices are now 3.98 percent higher month on month in the deep sea segment, with prices in the range of $375-383/mt CFR.
Scrap market sources throughout the US agree that December settled prices are likely to trend upward. The rationale behind this prediction is linked to several factors, such as still-rising HRC prices and seasonal factors, such as the hunting season, colder weather, and the start of the holiday season, which are having a negative impact on scrap yard inflows.
SteelOrbis has learned that the current price for Mexican domestic shredded scrap is still at MXN 7,600/mt ($423/mt), unchanged in pesos from a week ago. Additionally, HMS I/II scrap prices are also still being heard at MXN 6,250/mt ($348/mt), unchanged in pesos since last week.
The bullish trend in the Italian scrap market continued this week. Although demand for finished steel is still at a low level, scrap prices have risen further due to low availability and lower inflow of material from steel mills in southern Italy. This week, local scrap prices saw a further €5-10/ton increase from last week.
Although the domestic rebar market in Taiwan had a rest this week after the deals concluded last week, import scrap prices have continued to move up. Offers for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers to Taiwan have increased over the past week from $360-368/mt CFR to $363-375/mt CFR. Japanese scrap suppliers are sharing offers for H1/2 (50:50) scrap by bulk to Taiwan at $370-380/mt CFR.
SteelOrbis has learned that import scrap prices in Vietnam are moving up, supported by the uptrend observed in the international scrap market and by the billet prices offered to Vietnam. This week, negotiations between Vietnamese buyers and US-based sellers for containerized HMS I/II 80:20 scrap have been carried out at $375/mt CFR Vietnam. Japanese H2 grade scrap deals were concluded this week at $375/mt CFR Vietnam, moving up by $5/mt from the offer levels recorded two weeks ago.
SteelOrbis’ reference price for ex-Japan H2 scrap has remained stable this week at JPY 49,000-51,500/mt ($328-345/mt) FOB.