HMS 80:20 Turkish Scrap
The week started with the Deepsea Turkish import scrap market softened slightly from Friday, as mills looked to push for lower workable prices, while recycler offers remained stable. Prices edge down in wait for demand to pick up. Suppliers keep offers stable with buyers staying on the side-lines causing prices to feel the pressure.
Turkish ferrous scrap import pricing remained flat amid a lack of new bookings. However, sentiment was more bearish as market sources predicted the next round of bookings is likely to be closing with some discounts compared with the previous deals, sources said. Scrap prices peaked last week at $285.50/mt CFR Turkey and subsequently dipped with buyers resisting to further upside. (Platts)
FOB CHINA HRC
Chinese market outlook for the approaching peak season remained firm, accompanied by easing liquidity. China’s central bank issued 700bn yuan of one-year MLF loans at interest rate of 2.95pc and reverse repo with a total net injection of 90bln yuan to market during previous two days.
A north China mill was reported to have sold out HRS allocation after its price release on Monday at around $520/t fob. Major other Chinese mills increased offers by $5/t or was stable at $515-520/t fob China for SS400 HRC, but transactions may slow down as Vietnamese buyers have purchased around 200,000t HRC from local-based Formosa, while buyers from South America and Africa also bought lots of coils from China last week. (Argus)
NWE HRC
The NW EU HRC index is up €11.50 over the last two days, with even the largest buyers struggling to get below €430/t delivered on a DD11 basis for prime HRC. Expect another increase announcement could be quite imminent.
There are still concerns over how long Chinese strength can persist, as this could free up tonnes in what has been a very tight import market – although lead times for third-country tonnes are long. And lower Asian steel prices could dent iron ore’s upward march, though. The ICX index jumped $5.85/t today to $127.60/t, offsetting the increase in HRC prices from a margin point of view. (Argus)