Turkey ferrous: Price flat on three deals
The Turkish scrap import price was flat today on three deals from the UK and Russia.
The Argus daily HMS 1/2 80:20 cfr Turkey steel scrap assessment was stable at $501/t cfr today. It has remained stable for the sixth consecutive business day during a period in which mills have withdrawn from buying and then returned, and it is the longest number of days without any movement since the holiday period in December 2020.
A UK supplier sold HMS 1/2 80:20 at $504/t and shredded at $524/t cfr Marmara for July shipment.
A second UK supplier was heard to sell a full cargo of shredded at $521/t cfr Izmir for July shipment.
A St. Petersburg supplier sold HMS 1/2 80:20 at $498/t and bonus at $508/t cfr Marmara for July shipment.
The Marmara buyer has bought three deep-sea cargoes at an average price of $501/t cfr for premium HMS 1/2 80:20 this week for July shipment, according to Argus' calculation.
These three deals mean no more than 15 cargoes are estimated to now trade for July shipment.
It may be significant that no continental European sale has been heard in the past two weeks, and more so during the past two days in which Turkish mill demand has increased. German suppliers now widely expect mills to accept a very minimum of €40/t up on the month for E1 old scrap and €50/t up for new scrap from local mills for June deliveries. Demand for bushelling is strong and supply is tight because of lower output from many carmakers in Germany. Some suppliers are confident that they can sell bushelling in the next week at prices €50-60/t higher than May levels. North American offers to Turkey are also not heard today.
It is unclear at which price levels Turkish mills will be willing to bid for cargoes without shredded material. There is a clear difference in overall cargo price now for cargoes with shredded and those without. Mills are still unwilling to pay the levels suppliers expect for their shredded material based on domestic consumption levels, but mills are seemingly compensating by paying above market price for the HMS portion of the cargo.
Continental European suppliers with no shred to offer were understood to be seeking sales at a minimum level of $500/t cfr for their HMS 1/2 80:20 material. The euro has strengthened gradually throughout this week, hitting EUR1.22:$1 this afternoon.
The narrowing of Turkish mills' scrap-rebar margins means mills are largely looking to halt too much upward pressure on the scrap import price. But they have found domestic rebar demand since yesterday and may consider the currently still relatively wide scrap-rebar margins sustainable. Export rebar demand is also apparent in a $720-725/t fob range today.
Most mills this morning increased the equivalent USD-level of their domestic rebar offers, as they made larger volume sales yesterday after indicating to stockists that prices had bottomed. Demand appeared even stronger today, with traded volumes heard to be much larger. An Izmir mill sold around 35,000t at the equivalent of $700/t ex-works excluding VAT. A Marmara mill increased its offer to $720/t ex-works this morning, having sold at $690/t ex-works last week and $700/t ex-works yesterday.
On the Turkish short-sea scrap import market, western Adriatic HMS 1/2 80:20 suppliers have begun to increase their offer levels to around $475-480/t cif Marmara. The Argus daily A3 cif Marmara steel scrap assessment increased $2.50/t to $472.50/t cif.
Related news posts
Nippon Steel delays timeline to acquire US Steel
Nippon Steel delays timeline to acquire US Steel
Tokyo, 3 May (Argus) — Japan's Nippon Steel has extended the scheduled timing of its US Steel acquisition completion until the end of the year, following a request by US authorities to submit more documentation, postponing an original plan of closing the deal by September at the latest. Nippon Steel will take more time to complete its $15bn deal to buy US Steel , as the Japanese firm received from the US Department of Justice a "second request" on submitting further documents necessary for the approval procedure. The deal was initially scheduled to close during April-September but is postponed to sometime during July-December, the Japanese firm announced on 3 May. Nippon Steel received the additional request in April, according to a company representative who spoke to Argus, without disclosing the specific date. The company anticipated the possibility of additional requirements, he added. The acquisition procedure may not finish before the US presidential election in November. Both the Democratic and the Republican party candidates repeatedly and vocally have opposed the deal , with incumbent US President Joe Biden pledging that a fellow American steel producer will be "American owned, American operated by American union steel workers". Nippon Steel is confident that its acquisition plan will eventually clear regulatory hurdles with "fair and objective judgement" from the US authorities, the representative added. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan's trading firms see metals prices cutting profits
Japan's trading firms see metals prices cutting profits
Tokyo, 2 May (Argus) — Major Japanese trading houses are expecting lower profits from their metals businesses during the April 2024-March 2025 fiscal year, mostly because of lower prices of commodities such as iron ore and coking coal . Japanese trading house Mitsui forecast profits for its metal and natural resource business falling by 14pc on the year to ¥290bn ($1.87bn) during 2024-25, primarily because of lower iron ore prices. Mitsui plans to cut iron ore output by 0.3pc on the year to 60.9mn t at its mining projects where the company owns production ri ghts or a production stake during 2024-25 . This includes the joint venture project Robe River in Australia with Australian iron ore producer Rio Tinto. Japanese trading house Sojitz also expects profits from its metal and natural resource business to decline to ¥35bn, down by 20pc on the year, mostly because of a bearish coking coal market. The company said its overall coal business can cut production costs during 2024-25, partly because it plans larger-scale output at the Gregory Crinum coking coal mine in Australia, without disclosing further details. But Sojitz said it cannot generate higher profits because of lower coking coal prices. The trading house expects the average coking coal price to fall to $230/t during 2024-25, according to the company's chief financial officer Makoto Shibuya, down by $57/t from a year earlier. The company reiterated that the price is not necessarily their selling price. Sumitomo expects profits from its natural resource business would remain flat at ¥72bn on the year, mostly as its nickel production in Madagascar recovers from the output cuts in 2023 , with an aim to produce 19,000t of nickel during 2024-25, up by 9.8pc on the year. A rebound in nickel production could offset possible losses from coal and coking coal prices falling to $266/t and $133/t respectively in the ordinary market, down by $21 and $9, according to the trading house. Sumitomo plans to increase coking coal production by 9.1pc to 1.2mn t but reduce coal output by 4.8pc to 4mn t during 2024-25. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Evion-Metachem Indian project starts producing graphite
Evion-Metachem Indian project starts producing graphite
Singapore, 2 May (Argus) — Australian graphite producer Evion's joint venture with Indian producer Metachem Manufacturing has produced and sold 700kg of expandable graphite, with more output planned in the coming months, after missing its timeline last year. Capacity of the expandable graphite plant, located at Kurkumbh near the west Indian city of Pune, will increase to at least 1,800 t/yr over the coming months, said Evion in its latest quarterly activity report. The agreement between the two firms originally envisioned 2,000-2,500 t/yr of production capacity in the first three years, with plans to begin an expansion to double the capacity starting from the second year. Evion previously was expecting first production in October-December 2023. Evion, formerly known as BlackEarth Minerals, back in 2021 signed an offtake deal with Austrian downstream graphite firm Grafitbergbau Kaiserberg for up to 2,500 t/yr of expandable graphite. Graphite concentrate for the plant is expected to come from external parties in the first two years of operations, subsequently switching to products from its Maniry graphite project in Madagascar, said Evion. Madagascar's national office for the environment is carrying out the environmental and social impact assessment for the Maniry project, according to Evion. India in July 2023 identified 30 critical minerals necessary to its green energy transition and energy self-reliance, including graphite. The country's mines ministry, through state trading firm MSTC, in March launched the second round of its auction , involving 18 blocks, for development of critical and strategic minerals in the country. By Joseph Ho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US southbound barge demand falls off earlier than usual
US southbound barge demand falls off earlier than usual
Houston, 1 May (Argus) — Southbound barge rates in the US have fallen on unseasonably low demand because of increased competition in the international grain market. Rates for voyages down river have deteriorated to "unsustainable" levels, said American Commercial Barge Line. Southbound rates declined in April to an average tariff of 284pc across all rivers this April, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is below breakeven levels for many barge carriers. Rates typically do not fall below a 300pc tariff until May or June. Southbound freight values for May are expected to hold steady or move lower, said sources this week. Southbound activity has increased recently because of the low rates, but not enough to push prices up. The US has already sold 84pc of its forecast corn exports and 89pc of forecast soybean exports with only five months left until the end of the corn and soybean marketing year, according to the USDA. US corn and soybean prices have come down since the beginning of the year in order to stay competitive with other origins. The USDA lowered its forecast for US soybean exports by 545,000t in its April report as soybeans from Brazil and Argentina were more competitively priced. US farmers are holding onto more of their harvest from last year because of low crop prices, curbing exports. Prompt CBOT corn futures averaged $435/bushel in April, down 34pc from April 2023. Weak southbound demand could last until fall when the US enters harvest season and exports ramp up southbound barge demand. Major agriculture-producing countries such as Argentina and Brazil are expected to export their grain harvest before the US. Brazil has finished planting corn on time . unlike last year. The US may face less competition from Brazil in the fall as a result. Carriers are tying up barges earlier than usual to avoid losses on southbound barge voyages. Carriers that have already parked their barges will take their time re-entering the market unless tariffs become profitable again. The carriers who remain on the river will gain more southbound market share and possibly more northbound spot interest. By Meghan Yoyotte and Eduardo Gonzalez Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more