Turkey: Imported Scrap Prices Down in Recent Deal

SteelMint learned from industry participants that after a short silence, Turkey-based steel mill has booked a cargo as prices moved down as expected. No significant recovery in finish steel demand has turned scrap importers hesitant to buy more at high prices. A recent fresh deal concluded has pulled prices down USD 5-6/MT as against the last week.

A supplier based in the UK sold a 10,000 MT cargo to a leading steel mill based in the Marmara region comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at USD 316/MT, CFR Turkey.

According to SteelMint's price assessment, US origin HMS (80:20) scrap stands at USD 323-324/MT, CFR Turkey down against USD 327-328/MT, CFR report in the closing of last week. While HMS 1&2 (80:20) of Europe origin stands at around USD 315-316/MT, CFR. A premium for US material over Northern European scrap remains at around USD 8-9/MT.

Domestic demand for rebar and billet is very dull at the moment resulting in a bad situation for many steel mills, participants expected for price correction after a significant volume of around 2 MnT scrap was booked aggressively.

Rebar export offers stable amid limited demand - Turkey's rebar export offers reported stable at around USD 495-510/MT, FoB Turkey. Moreover, CIS rebar export offers climb in the range of USD 475-490/MT, FoB levels on Black Sea port basis, up USD 10/MT on W-o-W. Turkey billet export prices remained stable in the range USD 470-480/MT, FoB main port.

Turkey's crude steel output drops 20% Y-o-Y in Jan'19 - According to data released by Turkey's steel producers association, crude steel production has recorded at 2.56 MnT in Jan'19, down 11% M-o-M as against 2.89 MnT crude steel in Dec'18 while down 20% Y-o-Y against 3.19 MnT in Jan'18.

Recession in the construction sector, introduction of import quotas in Europe and competition from Chinese steelmakers in East Asia kept the situation not much favorable for Turkey steel mills since a couple of months.