Turkey ferrous: Price down on US deal

The Turkish scrap import price decreased today on a US sale heard done to a Marmara mill for August shipment.

The Argus daily HMS 1/2 80:20 cfr Turkey steel scrap assessment decreased $2.50/t to $475/t.

A US supplier was heard to sell HMS 1/2 80:20 at $475/t cfr Marmara for August shipment between 23-26 July. It is not clear how much shred and/or bonus is included in the cargo, nor at what price levels.

Two continental European exporters were looking for cargo sales today, and Turkish mills largely continued to stay out of the market based on the availability they see from deep-sea suppliers for August shipment, as well as from short-sea suppliers.

US east coast availability for August shipment is particularly healthy, which has built concern among the region's exporters that they could lose out on a higher price from Turkey or even a sale for August shipment. Turkish mills still need at least 10 deep-sea cargoes for August shipment but hidden business is a worry for all exporters that still have August shipment cargoes in hand. Baltic availabilty is also strong for August shipment.

Overall August shipment availability indicates that any Turkish import scrap price recovery may now not be seen for another 10-14 days, market participants said.

Premium HMS 1/2 80:20 equivalent prices below $475/t cfr Turkey are calculated workable for continental European exporters as some of these suppliers are now expected to be able to collect at an average stock price level close to €350/t delivered to dock for August-loading HMS 1/2.

Several deep-sea scrap suppliers expected to receive some Turkish demand during the national holiday last week but it appears that buyers covered their sales for existing September shipment long steel cargoes via August shipment scrap buying that was completed before the holiday.

Additionally, not many alternative overseas markets have shown strong demand for deep-sea bulk scrap cargoes in the second half of July to absorb some of the US and continental European supply.

Turkish rebar stockists will show less demand if the Turkish scrap import price begins to fall towards $470/t cfr but mills have no urgency to maintain that demand given that their August export rebar production is close to sold out.

Mills also have very wide scrap-rebar margins in place and limited availability of rebar for domestic customers, particularly of certain sizes, means they can keep offers relatively firm. That said, two Marmara mills gave indications of local offers $10/t down today, to the equivalent of $720/t ex-works excluding VAT, likely because of the pressure on scrap import prices and the resulting ability to maintain high margins even after dropping rebar offers.

In the short-sea Turkish imported scrap market, the Argus daily A3 cif Marmara steel scrap assessment decreased $2.50/t to $445/t on lower bid-offer indications.