Ferrous scrap import prices to Turkey took a small step down on Monday, as sentiment over the weekend softened based on two small Black Sea bookings done last week.
No new sales were heard on the deepsea, and signs of emergent demand from Turkish steelmakers for heftier cargoes were yet to show themselves.
S&P Global Platts assessed HMS I/II 80:20 at $259/mt CFR Turkey on Monday, down $3/mt from Friday.
Black Sea origin material of A3 quality tends to run at approximately a $10/mt discount to US or Baltic origin HMS I/II 80:20 cargoes, but this number can change depending on the market conditions.
These two cargoes were booked at $250/mt CFR Iskenderun, spreading sentiment that 80:20 sales would come in under $260/mt.
This was expected, but a European seller, balancing his estimation of a price around $260/mt against that of a buyer, who saw prices workable in a $255-$260/mt range. Neither party seemed in a hurry to take to market.
"I am not expecting any scrap purchasing from Turkey until the end of the week at the earliest," said a second scrap merchant in Europe. "They've bought a lot of scrap and now they need to check the export market as I think recovery in their domestic [market] is unlikely."
Almost no purchasing has been openly seen in the market since the start of the month, when at least 14 cargoes were heard in the market over a span of three days. Stocks of material may remain high in Turkey of finished products, however, as a producer said that sales of finished products over the last two months have been smaller than expected.
Falling Chinese steel prices will pressure this further, as Turkey found some relief through the first quarter of 2017 by exporting to regions uninterested in skyrocketed Chinese listings.
