Turkey ferrous: Price jumps on three deals

The Turkish scrap import price jumped sharply again on Wednesday on the assessment of three deep-sea deals concluded throughout today for June shipment.

The Argus daily HMS 1/2 80:20 cfr Turkey steel scrap assessment increased $16.60/t to $470.40/t cfr today.

A UK supplier was heard to sell HMS 1/2 80:20 at $468/t cfr Iskenderun for June shipment.

A German exporter sold HMS 1/2 80:20 at $463/t, shred at $468/t and bonus at $473/t cfr Samsun for June shipment.

A Baltic supplier was heard to sell around 20,000t of HMS 1/2 85:15 and around 18,000t of shred at an average of $473/t cfr Samsun, also for June shipment.

A total of 22 cargoes are now recorded traded for June shipment.

The confirmation of the widened price spread between Turkish and Chinese export steel offers last week has ignited Turkish scrap demand and washed away scrap sellers' urgency to conclude deals swiftly.

There is now a strong possibility that the $480-483/t cfr Turkey peak for premium HMS 1/2 80:20 seen at the start of 2021 could be breached given that Turkish rebar sales prices are now far higher at new record levels.

Rebar prices peaked in early 2021 at $635-640/t fob and $655-660/t ex-works in the overseas and domestic markets, respectively. Some Marmara mills are now offering $700/t fob or $700/t ex-works.

The rise in Turkish domestic steel rebar and billet demand this week has played a large role in the upward pressure on prices. Turkish mills today sold significant volumes of rebar locally at the equivalent of $60/t higher than they did a week ago.

Two Marmara mills sold around 5,000t each in a $685-690/t ex-works range today after a third Marmara sold 5,000t at $680/t ex-works yesterday. An Izmir mill sold 20,000t of rebar locally yesterday.

Integrated steelmaker Kardemir opened its rebar sales window for the second time in only one week. It usually offers once every month. The steelmaker sold out of material in a matter of a few hours for the second successive time this morning.

Two Iskenderun mills were heard to sell billet at $660-670/t ex-works, giving them scrap-billet margins that exceed spreads seen in December 2020 or January 2021.

On higher short-sea price indications, the Argus daily A3 cif Marmara steel scrap assessment increased $12.50/t to $440/t.