[SMM Steel] Vietnam import scrap weakens amid softer East Asian sentiment

[Turkey] In the import market, a Russian mill's offer for August-delivery billet held stable at 480 USD/tonne FOB, while Turkish buyers' target prices were at or below 470 USD/tonne FOB, with freight rates from Russia to Turkish ports dropping to around 25 USD/tonne. Meanwhile, driven by lower freight costs, Chinese 4SP billet offers to Turkey fell by 2 USD/tonne to 518 USD/tonne CFR. The Turkish domestic market also remained stable due to sluggish trading, with domestic billet prices holding at 525 USD/tonne EXW this week, and domestic rebar prices also remaining steady in the first two days of the week.

Under the EU's new steel safeguard measures, Turkey, India, Japan, South Korea, and Ukraine have collectively secured around 2.74 million tonnes per year of duty-free allocations in product category 1A (HRC), representing 53% of the total quota volume. The current duty-free quota for HRC stands at 5.2 million tonnes/year, a 59% reduction from the previous 12.6 million tonnes/year. Turkey saw its quota drop from 1.59 million to 642,000 tonnes/year (down 60%), while Japan's volume rose 24% to 551,500 tonnes/year. Ukraine received 483,500 tonnes/year. The new system also creates supplementary quota pools for FTA and non-FTA countries.

The European Union has drastically reduced its steel import quota cap by 12 million tonnes, slashing the total limit from 30.5 million tonnes to 18.3 million tonnes. This policy shift heavily impacts Turkey, cutting its hot-rolled coil (HRC) allocation by approximately 60% to 642,295 tonnes and rebar by over 36% to 239,676 tonnes. Additionally, the restriction alters global supply dynamics, forcing around 8.5 million tonnes of East Asian steel to find alternative global markets annually. While European steel prices are expected to rise briefly following the July 1 customs clearance, weak summer demand will likely cap these gains. In the scrap market, tight European domestic supply has pushed dockside delivery prices to €275/tonne, with German delivered prices sitting €10 to €15/tonne higher than Netherlands dockside rates; however, weakened Turkish steel sales will ultimately exert dominant downward pressure on the market. Meanwhile, US export prices have fallen by $30/tonne and US East Coast dockside prices dropped by $15 to $20/gross ton. Although two major Turkish mills temporarily stabilized import prices by heavily restocking 16 cargoes at higher rates, a subsequent purchasing pause is expected to trigger further downward adjustments.