Turkish ferrous scrap imports down strongly in October

Turkish steelmakers reduced ferrous scrap import volumes by around a quarter in October and September compared to the average for the previous eight months, according to official trade data.

Falling steel slab and billet import prices, in addition to tighter ferrous scrap availability from the first half of August, led some Turkish scrap importers to reduce their scrap purchases in September and October and substitute them for semi-finished steel import volumes.

Argus' fob Black Sea steel slab assessment dropped by $160/t from $840/t on 29 July to $680/t on 7 October. Argus' fob Black Sea steel billet assessment dropped from $645/t on 9 August to $595/t on 4 October.

Turkish flat steel producers that can substitute imported scrap with imported slab were only recorded to have bought eight deep-sea scrap cargoes for September shipment.

Turkish scrap importers imported 1.568mn t of ferrous scrap in October and 1.599mn t in September. This is down from a range of 1.976mnt-2.472mn t in each of the previous eight months.

US-origin scrap accounted for the largest proportion of Turkish imported scrap in October of any global exporting country, standing at 294,000t. Tight scrap flows in Europe and the UK, in addition to strong domestic demand in both regions in the second half of the summer, saw Netherlands-origin and UK-origin imported material down strongly in October and September compared to previous months this year. The 90,000t and 154,000t of Netherlands-origin scrap imported in September and October, respectively, are the lowest volumes Turkish mills have bought in any months this year.

The 78,000t and 108,000t of UK-origin scrap imported by Turkish mills in September and October, respectively, are also the lowest volumes Turkish mills have purchased from the UK in any month this year, barring February, which stood at 98,000t.

Turkish steelmakers imported close to 100,000t of Venezuelan-origin scrap in October, the second-highest volume in any month this year. Turkish mills imported more Venezuelan-origin scrap in July-October than they imported in the first six months of this year.

Belgium-origin, Russian-origin and Lithuanian-origin volumes imported by Turkish mills in October stood at 136,000t, 130,000t and 102,000t, respectively.

By Alex Reynolds