Turkish scrap purchases down in November

Turkish ferrous scrap importers' purchases of deep-sea cargoes fell slightly in November from October as a weaker domestic steel market weighed on scrap demand.

A fall in Turkish domestic steel trading as the lira weakened throughout November slightly dampened Turkish mill demand for scrap cargoes, and there was no significant increase in rebar export activity to compensate.

Overseas billet prices also became attractive to Turkish mills in November compared with October and billet may have been substituted for some scrap imports after CIS, Indian and UAE material was offered at lower prices from the beginning of the month.

Turkish steelmakers were recorded by Argus to have purchased 33 deep-sea cargoes in November, down from 39 in October. A total of 35 deep-sea cargoes have been recorded purchased for December shipment, the majority of which traded in November.

A Marmara mill bought 11 of those 35 cargoes for December shipment. This indicates that overall demand for December shipment was not high - with a limited shipment window traditionally curbing high trading activity for December shipment amid the winter holiday season in exporting countries towards the end of the month.

Turkish steelmakers focused on buying scrap with high yield in order to lower energy costs with their November purchases. Mills were recorded to buy 16 deep-sea cargoes containing shred in November, almost half the cargoes recorded purchased. This put slight downward pressure on the prices of cargoes without shredded material in the second half of the month.

Argus' HMS 1/2 80:20 cfr Turkey steel scrap assessment fell $9/t from $497/t cfr on 1 November to $488/t cfr on 30 November, with the assessment falling $10.80/t in the second half of the month having edged up to $500/t cfr in the second week of the month.

Nine of the 33 deep-sea cargoes traded in November were of continental European origin, and six cargoes were of North American origin. There were also six Baltic/Scandinavian cargoes, five UK cargoes, four Russian cargoes and three South/Central American cargoes.

By Alex Reynolds