The daily Davis Index for Turkish imports of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) rebounded by $3.24/mt to $426.99/mt cfr on Wednesday after a bulk sale from Venezuela fuelled positive sentiment.
A 30,000mt-sized vessel sold to Italy on Wednesday out of Venezuela at a Turkish equivalent price of $425/mt cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).
A sale from the US to Turkey that concluded on Monday at an HMS price level of $430/mt cfr was also released to the market today. It should be noted that daily indexes only include deals, bids, and offers that conclude in the prior 24-working-hour window and as a result, Monday’s deal is not representative of the current market.
Though the market started the week bullish with mills open to booking scrap at $430/mt cfr and potentially higher, sudden changes within Turkey’s central bank on Tuesday sent the lira crashing, hurting producer sentiment.
The lira is still hovering below TRY8.2 to the US dollar, down 13pc from the start of the month, and the uncertainty in Turkey has triggered some buyer caution.
Still, billet sales have proved resilient and while suppliers were open to $425/mt cfr level trades on Wednesday, others have signalled that they will wait for the market to return to at least $440/mt cfr before offering material.