Turkish HMS 1/2 80:20 import prices plummet to $231 a ton

TURKEY February 06 2017 2:29 PM

ANKARA (Scrap Register): Turkish HMS 1/2 80:20 scrap import weekly average prices (CFR Iskenderun Port, Turkey) plummeted by another $22 a ton week-on-week at $231 a ton during the week ended February 03, as per the latest figures from the Steel Index. 

The Turkish market seemed stunned following last week’s precipitous decline in HMS 80:20 prices. The benchmark 80:20 index opened the week at $235 a ton, slipping during the week as several European and Baltic cargoes traded well below $230 a ton, pushing prices down further. 

Many were surprised that prices continued to slip, but the market seems to have established a slight correction to end the week, as European and US deals emerged at higher levels on Friday. The HMS 80:20 closed the week at $236 a ton again on the back of these.

Rebar prices have begun to fall, which will pressure the mills' margins again, and given the ongoing turmoil within Turkey, sentiment out of the country is still far from positive. 

Sellers, notably from the US, have expressed strong reluctance to selling below $240 a ton, levels that many mills are protesting is too high for them. It was this same stalemate that brought about the silent market a couple of weeks ago as sellers refused to lower prices. 

With the scrap prices now $50 a ton lower however, it is harder to see the sellers budging, putting the onus on the mills to raise bids. 

Demand for finished and semi-finished products remains tempered in Europe, but there are good signs of life from China, giving a glimmer of optimism to the scrap market, and many market participants are expecting to see prices climbing further.