Turkey ferrous: Price flat on Baltic deal

The Turkish scrap import price was flat on Tuesday on a Baltic sale to a Marmara mill concluded yesterday for June shipment.

The Argus daily HMS 1/2 80:20 cfr Turkey steel scrap assessment was unchanged at $427.50/t.

A Baltic supplier was heard to sell 25,000t of HMS 1/2 80:20 at $427.50/t cfr Marmara for June shipment.

At least one other Baltic supplier has been offering to Turkish mills since the middle of last week, and Turkish mills expect to comfortably attract more suppliers from the region to sell at around this level.

This is the ninth cargo sold for June shipment so far, according to Argus records. Turkish mills are relaxed about receiving consistent offers throughout the next few weeks for June shipment as many deep-sea scrap suppliers continue to sell material which they have not yet collected.

Only one US cargo has been heard sold for June shipment so far, and Turkish mills expect US offers will arrive next week during US domestic negotiations for May deliveries. Mills do not currently anticipate that any US offer will be above $435/t cfr Turkey for premium HMS 1/2 80:20.

A continental European HMS 1/2 80:20 offer at $430/t cfr Turkey reflects firm dockside prices across the region throughout the second half of April, reinforced by sustained demand from domestic steelmakers. A UK offer was heard at $432/t cfr Turkey for HMS 1/2 80:20, similarly supported by strong dockside prices.

Turkish domestic rebar demand weakened today after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a full national lockdown starting from Thursday to last until 17 May in order to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Local steel demand was further dented by the lira's significant appreciation against the US dollar over the past two days, during which the Turkish currency has fallen from TL8.48: $1 on Monday morning to TL8.21: $1 at 16:10 BST. Several stockists had expected that the rate would remain around TL8.3:$1 in the past week which encouraged some restocking from 20 April through to yesterday.

Any further drop off in domestic rebar demand will not concern Turkish steel mills because of their very healthy export order books, which they will have to continue to cover through scrap purchases for June shipment. It is understood the nine cargoes bought so far for June shipment do not fully cover the volume of export rebar deals concluded for July shipment already, which adds some support to scrap import prices.

In the short-sea imported Turkish scrap market, the Argus daily A3 cif Marmara steel scrap assessment was flat at $407.50/t.