The daily Davis Index for Turkish imports of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was flat at $206.93/mt cfr on Wednesday.
Trading remains on hold in the Turkish ferrous scrap market. There are almost no offers left as most of scrap sellers have decided to step away because of steep price decreases and difficulties in scrap collection. Imported scrap prices dropped by around $70/mt in Turkey in March. Many suppliers believe it will be difficult for mills to find HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the US or Baltic region at $205-207/mt cfr or lower.
Demand for scrap remains weak in Turkey. However, a few mills are checking for cargo availability at $200/mt cfr or lower and plan to insist on this price range since they are not under pressure to buy. According to some market participants, if mills fail to purchase anything in about 10 days, they will raise their bids to $210/mt cfr or higher.
Since scrap collection is slow, dockside prices remained unchanged on the US East Coast this week, and decreased only by $3/mt in European countries.
Turkish local rebar sales didn’t improve, but spot prices increased by TRY50/mt ($7/mt) in Istanbul and Izmir, by TRY70/mt ($10/mt) in Karabuk, and by TRY90/mt ($13/mt) in Iskenderun. As a result, prices settled in the range of TRY2,950-3,000/mt ex-works, including 18pc VAT, on Wednesday.
Most Turkish mills keep export rebar prices at $390-395/mt fob. There were some talks about a mill selling to Latin America at lower levels, but this could not be confirmed by the time this article was published.
($1 = TRY6.68)