Turkish steel producers ended the week with no deep-sea scrap bookings amid limited finished steel demand, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday June 4.
The most recent deep-sea trade was done at the end of last week, when a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a United States cargo comprising heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) at $503 per tonne and shredded scrap at $513 per tonne cfr.
Demand for long steel products and billet has been sluggish in Turkey's export and domestic markets over the past week, causing Turkish steelmakers to slow their scrap purchases.
"I heard some Baltic Sea suppliers were in the market today offering HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $505-510 per tonne cfr, but it did not attract any buyers. I think the price idea is around $495 per tonne cfr," a Turkish source said.
"Export rebar prices have also gone down this week due to limited demand. I do not think Turkish steelmakers would accept high scrap offers for now," another Turkish source added.
As a result of the lack of fresh trading activity, Fastmarkets' daily scrap indices were stable at the end of the week.
The daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey remained at $495.27 per tonne on Friday, while the daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey was unchanged at $501.22 per tonne.
This left the premium for US material over European scrap at $5.95 per tonne.