Scrap prices continue their downward trend

Global steel markets continue to decrease.

In the Indian import scrap market, limited bookings were made due to high offers. Buyers offered mill scrap at $403-408/ton and HMS grade at $375-380/ton, while sellers offered European scrap at $410-415/ton CFR Nhava Sheva.

Commenting on the scrap market to Steelradar, a European supplier said: "The hopes for the scrap market since the beginning of the year have been exhausted for all companies in the domestic market, especially in the sales area due to downtime in the factories and holidays in the summer months. The need for scrap failed to meet initial expectations. There is a serious struggle on the purchasing side due to the slowdown in financial income. The markets are facing up to 30 per cent less incoming material compared to last year. But we have to get used to it now and make more effort to sell it in combination with a useful purchase."

According to another European scrap supplier who spoke to SteelRadar, the scrap market is starting to show good trends. Not only in Türkiye, but also in Saudi Arabia, mills are looking for scrap. The steel trader attributed the recent sales to the improvement of EUR/USD exchange rate. He also said that the market will return and Türkiye will rebuild Iskenderun, so there will be demand for finished products and raw materials.

A scrap trader in Türkiye, on the other hand, stated that it is very difficult for scrap prices to increase and it is unlikely that scrap prices will increase even in 2023 September due to the stagnation in the domestic market.

US HMS 1&2 (80:20) prices were steady at $350/ton CFR Türkiye, while European HMS 1&2 (80:20) prices decreased by $9-10 from early last week to $346/ton.