Lower bid levels to UK merchants were heard on Monday, as Turkish ferrous scrap importers saw Brexit-inspired currency volatility as an opportunity for cheaper material.
Talk in the market saw offer levels from two prominent exporters at $225/mt and $230/mt last Thursday, according to an agent in Turkey for a US seller.
Another agent representing a European yard said that bids against this material had hit $205/mt from one electric arc furnace-based producer.
"Last week with GBP1.48 [against the US dollar] UK sellers were offering $220/mt. Now the pound is GBP1.32. $196/mt is the same price for them," said a Turkish buyer.
Exchange rate fluctuations gave UK sellers more apparent wiggle room to reduce prices, but a UK scrap trader agreed it was not that simple.
Currency and stock exchange volatility following the referendum vote to leave the EU have created huge uncertainty in the UK, both political and economic. Export sellers are unlikely to give much ground on dollar pricing in order to keep their non-GBP currency coffers as full as possible.
EU and US sellers continued to hold pricing at elevated levels according to their domestic markets, said another agent in Turkey. "There's no chance of US sales, the domestic market keeps their offers at $240-$245/mt CFR. Europe can offer $230-$235/mt so Turkish buyers won't bother with US material," he said.
EU merchants could soon sell at lower numbers, according to a European trader, who believed that lateral values would force sellers to take what they could quickly. European domestic markets are set for a Eur10-15/mt drop, while Turkish rebar prices are "hedging down to $380/mt," the trader said.
Other estimates put Turkish domestic rebar as high as $410/mt ex-works.
Platts assessed HMS I/II 80:20 CFR Turkey at $222/mt on Monday, stable from Friday.
