Turkish mills’ deep-sea scrap import bookings have slowed to a solitary cargo this week, with prices more or less stable, as a stand-off developed between mills and scrap merchants over price expectations.

The booking was from the Baltic for 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 80:20 at $321/tonne cfr Turkey for end of April shipment. One European scrap merchant points out, however, that scrap sourced from the country in this deal is typically below benchmark 80:20 quality.

Baltic and US scrap merchants are now seeking a minimum of $325-330/t cfr Turkey, while mills are bidding at $315-320/t cfr. One scrap supplier, though, says Turkish buyers have upped bids from the bottom of this range at the start of the week to nearer the top end after realising sellers were unlikely to budge.

One key factor has been the depreciation of the dollar versus the euro in the last two weeks, which makes it less likely, notwithstanding demand, for European scrap merchants to accept lower dollar-denominated bids.

Scrap availability is said to be tight, with merchants seeking to secure material in order to fulfil deals they have agreed. “On the one hand you have Turkish mills pushing price down, and on the other you have [... European merchants] hunting scrap,” a scrap supplier tells Kallanish. “There’s an incredible upward pressure on buying prices.” Most merchants are booked out for April shipment, he adds.

Merchants cannot break even at $320/t cfr Turkey, and transaction prices are therefore soon likely to return to $325, he continues. With the European steel market enjoying a “… renaissance” thanks to safeguard measures, “…it will be tough for Turkish mills to secure the higher scrap grades.”

A European scrap collector agrees. Given the composition of a vessel, “… $325/t seems to be a very reasonable price to be receiving from the Turkish mills’ perspective,” he observes.

With Turkish long product demand severely weakened, Turkish mills are likely to reduce scrap requirement. On the other hand, scrap availability is tight thanks to strong demand in the US and EU domestic markets. “It’s a complicated market now,” the collector says. “There seems to be complete turmoil on both sides, but prices are balanced.”