Plentiful supply of ferrous scrap on the United States East Coast continued to weigh heavily on deep-sea export prices to Turkey, with a Turkish mill securing a cargo at a discount of $4-9 per tonne compared to the last-reported US sale.
An East Coast exporter sold a cargo of unspecified tonnage comprising an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap priced at $471 per tonne cfr and shredded scrap and bonus-grade material at $486 per tonne cfr, Fastmarkets learned on Wednesday July 28. The spread between Turkish reinforcing bar, which is currently selling for $730 per tonne fob, and US-origin heavy melting scrap now stands at $259 per tonne on the basis of this sale.This is significantly wider than the usual $170-per-tonne spread maintained between the two grades - the narrowest the spread can be in order for mills to turn a profit after raw materials costs.Based on current rebar sales, Turkish mills could afford...