Turkey: Ferrous scrap imports rise on strong steel demand

Turkey, the world's leading purchaser of ferrous scrap, recorded a hike in its imports of the material at 20 million tonnes (mn t) in Jan-Oct'21 vis-a-vis 18 mn t in the same period last year, a straight 11% rise y-o-y, as per custom data maintained with SteelMint.

However, on a m-o-m basis, scrap imports have shown a marginal 1% increase to 1.55 mn t as against 1.54 mn t in Sep'21.

Scrap demand is on the stronger side due to increasing steel demand in Turkey's domestic as well as overseas markets which have kept Turkish buyers active in continuously bookings new bulk cargoes. Notably, Turkish mills' crude steel output was at 33 mn t in Jan-Oct'21, up 14%, as per figures released by the World Steel Association (WSA).

Key highlights

• USA, Netherlands emerge as major exporters: USA stood as the top exporter of ferrous scrap to Turkey with 3.04 mn t in Jan-Oct'21. Netherlands was the second-largest exporter with 2.5 mn t, followed by the UK at 1.9 mn t, similar as last year's volumes, as per SteelMint data.
  
  
• Prices drop in Sep'21: SteelMint's assessment of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) fell to $440/t CFR Turkey in Sep'21 from $455/t CFR in Aug'21, down by around $10-15/t m-o-m. However, on a yearly basis, the prices were at $300/t CFR, Turkey in Sep'20, an increase of $142/t CFR, respectively.
  
  
• Lira continues to depreciate against $: The lira recorded its worst performance in the currency exchange market. It was being traded at TRY 9.57 in end-Oct'21, depreciating further against the dollar as compared to 8.9 in end-Sep'21.
  
  

Outlook
It is expected that Turkey's imported scrap volumes will be higher in Nov'21 as mills might restock ahead of winter.