Turkish imported scrap prices continued their rise on fresh bookings, which were heard late on Thursday.

A western Turkish mill bought US-origin HMS 1&2 80:20 at $385/tonne and shredded at $405/t cfr Turkey. This is up from $377/t earlier last week and $368/t a week earlier.

A Marmara mill, meanwhile, bought the same grade from the EU at $373/t cfr. Although this points to a widening spread between US and EU material, other European suppliers refused to sell at this level.  

A Benelux supplier tells Kallanish: “This [$373] will most probably remain as a unique deal at this price as other European suppliers offered the same grade at $390/t and refused to sell at $385/t on the same day.”

On Wednesday, a Croatia-origin cargo comprising 10,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 80:20 was sold at $371/t cfr. However, the seller confirms this is not a repeatable price and only accepted it due to some special conditions between buyer and seller. The minimum price it would accept on Friday was $390/t cfr, it adds.

Some market participants expect US-origin HMS 1&2 80:20 to exceed $390/t cfr in the next deal.

“Turkey needs to buy 30 cargoes for November shipment. Those who sold at lower levels are now struggling to collect the material they sold. They cannot bear more losses when they have already recorded losses. They will inevitably have to charge higher prices,” says a supplier who believes values will approach $395/t cfr.”

A trader says: “Post-China holiday activity will play a very important role. If China returns strongly, we may even see $400/t. But if China opens weakly, then we might see sharp declines in both steel and scrap prices.”

Another supplier does not find a sharp decline in scrap prices likely. “In the worst-case scenario, the uptick ends but prices remain strong at current levels. Turkey’s [scrap] requirement is obvious,” he comments.

However, some even doubt values will remain stable and are anticipating a correction as price rose too sharply in a very short period, with buyers resisting current levels.

Meanwhile, US dockworkers ended their strike, which started on 1 October, late on 3 October, bringing an end to fears over US scrap supply.

Turkey’s domestic rebar market, which has been one of the major drivers of higher scrap prices, showed fluctuations in demand throughout last week. While the shortage in certain dimensions continues to be an issue, mills’ offers stood at $620-635/t ex-works. Demand, which remained moderate in the south, did not show much improvement in other regions.