The daily Davis Index for Turkish imports of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was unchanged at $420/mt cfr on Friday as new trades concluded at around the prevailing index level.
A Karadeniz-based mill purchased 20,000mt of HMS 1&2 (80:20), 10,000mt of shredded scrap, and 10,000mt of bonus material from the UK at an average price of $420/mt cfr on Mar 26. The same day, a Marmara-based mill bought 15,000mt of HMS 1&2 (80:20) and 25,000mt of shredded scrap at an average price of $414/mt cfr from a European exporter.
As previously reported, Turkish mills were expected to resume bookings this week and will remain active next week as mills secure cargo for late April and May shipments. As a result, suppliers are bullish and have begun a push for higher prices.
Rebar sales also rebounded in Turkey after buyers felt that scrap prices bottomed out. Any scrap price increase looks likely to support higher rebar prices next week. Daily domestic spot rebar prices in Turkey rose by TRY50-80/mt ($6-10/mt) to TRY5,570-5,700/mt ex-works, including 18pc VAT on Friday.
Export activity has also picked up with Turkish mills booking two to three rebar cargo sales to Asia at $650-660/mt cfr earlier this week.
($1=TRY8.10)