Turkey: Ferrous scrap imports up 20% m-o-m in Jul'21

Turkey, the world's leading buyer of ferrous scrap, recorded imports of the material at 2.35 million tonnes (mn t) in Jul'21, a straight 20% rise against 1.96 mn t in Jun'21, as per SteelMint data.

After the Eid holidays, the country's steel mills resumed active booking of scrap cargoes in July. Imported scrap volumes into Turkey, however, remained stable y-o-y at 2.35 mn t in July.

Import volumes into Turkey have shown a hike owing to positive finished steel demand due to active restocking as steel production has started strengthening after easing of Covid lockdown constraints.

Meanwhile, Turkish mills' crude steel output was recorded at 3.2 mn t in Jul'21, up marginally 2.5%, y-o-y. But the volume saw a slight m-o-m decline of 6% from 3.4 mn t in Jun'21, as per figures released by the World Steel Association (WSA).

Market highlights:

• The Netherlands and Russia become major scrap suppliers in Jul'21: The Netherlands stood as the top exporter of ferrous scrap to Turkey with 0.37 mn t in Jul'21 as against 0.22 mn t in Jun'21. The Russians outpaced the US to become the second-largest exporter with 0.23 mn t in Jul'21, followed by Lithuania at 0.21 mn t, as per SteelMint data.
  
  
• Imports volume from US drop: The US exported a volume of 0.18 mn t in Jul'21 as against 0.28 mn t in Jun'21, a sharp drop of 35% m-o-m in July. The reason was suppliers from the US quoted high prices for their material which were not agreeable to the Turkish buyers.
  
  
• Prices rise in Jun'21: SteelMint's assessment of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) stood at $503/t CFR Turkey in Jun'21 and $499/t CFR in May'21, up by around $4/t m-o-m. Imported scrap trade has been resumed in Jun'21 supported by positive steel sentiments. The market participants were active in restocking before the Eid holidays.
  
  
• Volatility in exchange rates: The Turkish lira depreciated to 8.52 against the dollar in July-end as compared to 8.67 in June-end.
  
  
• Automobile sales down in Jul'21: The Turkish automobile and light commercial vehicles market declined by 45% year-on-year in July with sales of around 47,849 units, according to official data published by the Automotive Distributors Association (ODD).