Sentiment was split between buyers and sellers for the Turkish import scrap market on Tuesday, but trading showed that lower prices were still available to Turkish buyers.
A UK-origin sale was heard to an electric arc furnace-based producer in the Marmara region. The full cargo contained 30,000 mt of 80:20 at $226.50/mt and 10,000 mt of bonus at $236.50/mt. The timing of the cargo was disputed, with some sources placing it close to similar levels seen last week, but a source close to the transaction confirmed the cargo as being after those sales -- putting it as the most recent in the market.
Some normalization issues were heard, as sources said material from this supplier carried a discount of $5-$10/mt against other sellers, putting it in a range of $231.50-$236.50/mt when stacked against premium quality 80:20.
Two other deals were heard from another UK yard at $222/mt and $223.50/mt for the 80:20 portions, but both were firmly routed in last week. Neither could be used in the assessment, however, as a source close to the purported transaction denied that the trades had been done.
Further talk came from an agent in Turkey for a European supplier, who said that a Baltic supplier had sold to an EAF-based producer in Iskenderun between $225-$227/mt. Possible support for the trade came from a Turkish producer, who had heard a supplier was offering in Iskenderun at $230/mt. Details were insufficient to confirm the trade, however, and both sources were accepted as market estimations.
Sellers were firm early Monday that increases would be inevitable, based on low material availability forcing sellers to accept higher offers in the market. The repeatability of sales at the level of UK merchants was dismissed by suppliers in continental Europe as they would be unable to continue collection while meeting these bids.
Mills were firm in their insistence on lower pricing, said a Turkish buyer.
"We never thought to give more than $225/mt. Anything over that was only expectations of sellers but it did not work," he said.
A height of $240/mt was spotted last week, with expectations remaining that the market could return to this level, depending on the availability of cheaper cargoes.
Platts assessed HMS I/II 80:20 CFR Turkey at $232.50/mt on Tuesday, down $2.50 from Monday.
