The Turkish market for imported deepsea scrap strengthened again Thursday as mills sought tonnage to produce recent rebar bookings, and other regions looked to resume purchasing.
Platts daily assessment of Turkish premium heavy melting scrap I/II (80:20) imports rose $2/mt to $272/mt CFR.
A merchant in Germany said capacity utilization was increasing at mills, and with billet being expensive -- and Chinese material having such long lead times -- they would need to melt scrap to fulfill their recent product orders.
Another European seller confirmed there was appetite from mills, who were revelling in higher scrap costs as they were passing them off in steel sales.
Indian mills were also returning to the market, which could provide competition for scrap, the seller added.
"[It] looks as though their stocks run out May/June, so basis lead time between purchase and delivery they need to face the new 'price music'," he said.
A trader in the US said Indian mills were not back in the market yet, however, as it was a holiday in parts of the country; there was also unsold material sitting at Chennai port, which could divert some import demand, he added.
Exporters were aggressively seeking material and paying higher prices at docksides, a US-based trader said.
At US docks, sellers were paying $200/lt delivered for HMS, while prices at Dutch terminals were around Eur185/mt delivered, he said.
Those who had not sold yet had been particularly aggressive in their approach, and the prices they were willing to pay.
"They definitely expect a rise, I think they will start [offering] at $280/mt CFR and work from there," he said. "Scrap has leverage given expensive billet [costs]."
A buyer with a large electric arc furnace-based mill in the Marmara region said prices were "increasing all the time."
A deal done Wednesday between a European merchant and Izmir-based electric arc furnace mill came to light.
The cargo contained 17,000 mt of HMS I/II (75:25) at $261/mt CFR and 8,000 mt of bonus at $274/mt CFR and was confirmed with several sources.
Additionally, another deal from earlier this week was reported.
A Turkish trader sold Dutch material to an Izmir-based EAF with 80:20 at $264.5/mt CFR, shred at $269.5/mt CFR and bonus at $274.5/mt CFR.
The trader had taken material from two traditional deepsea sellers and combined it for this cargo, according to one merchant.
