[Ferro-Alloys.com] The Turkish scrap import price remained largely flat on Thursday on a Baltic sale to an Iskenderun mill yesterday evening for October shipment.

 

The Argus daily HMS 1/2 80:20 cfr Turkey steel scrap assessment edged up 40¢/t to $445/t cfr.

 

A Baltic supplier sold HMS 1/2 80:20 at $445/t and bonus at $460/t cfr Iskenderun for October shipment yesterday evening.

 

Limited availability of rebar and billet in Turkey's domestic market is also a key near term market driver, and an Iskenderun steelmaker sold billet yesterday evening at $620/t ex-works excluding VAT.

 

An Izmir mill sold 10,000-15,000t of rebar on Thursday at $658/t ex-works excluding VAT, a higher price than 35,000t yesterday at $655/t ex-works excluding VAT. These scrap-domestic rebar margins are not far from the margins mills were making with domestic rebar in the first half of the year at around $220-225/t. Scrap-export rebar margins have however narrowed during August.

 

But Turkish mills continued to relay information to scrap suppliers that the steel markets are in poor condition and several continental European suppliers were offering deep-sea cargoes to Turkey today. A continental European supplier was heard to sell a mixed cargo today at an average price of $443/t cfr Marmara for October shipment. European suppliers are still competing fiercely with each other based on the strong supply of HMS material in the market, and only one US cargo has been sold so far for October shipment, which may be concerning for Europeans too.

 

European suppliers sell large amounts of HMS to Turkey and are currently limited in their ability to aggressively lift offers higher because of the rise in Venezuelan HMS supply and a lack of demand from alternative overseas markets. Freight rates also stop them from selling to import destinations further away.

 

For the moment, the focus for most deep-sea scrap suppliers remains Turkey. Turkish mills have clearly shown that around the $445/t cfr Turkey mark for premium HMS 1/2 80:20 is a comfortable buying level this week.

 

The Argus daily HMS 1/2 80:20 cif Turkey (short-sea) steel scrap assessment was flat at $419/t cif on Thursday.

Source: argusmedia