Most Turkish steelmakers have further increased their domestic scrap buying prices since last week amid higher imported scrap prices. The rate of increase has, however, slowed significantly compared to last week, pointing to a possible stabilisation of prices soon. 

Last week Turkish mills continued booking numerous imported scrap cargoes. This week, however, there has been a marked decrease in their imported scrap demand.

The US-origin HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap price has risen to $267/tonne cfr Turkey in the most-recent deal. The seller, offering HMS 80:20 at above $270/t cfr at the beginning of the week, is seen to have accepted the lower price due to the resistance of Turkish mills towards higher prices. Last week, the same seller sold HMS 80:20 at $266/t cfr, while the same material from the Baltic was sold at $267/t cfr.

On the other hand, some additional cargoes at small quantities were sold by Canadian and Baltic suppliers at $270/t cfr Turkey at the end of last week. With $270/t cfr levels failing to find acceptance by Turkish producers this week, the scrap price uptrend could be coming to an end.

Turkish mills' demand for domestic scrap continues, however, after some Baltic suppliers were unable to source material for previously-agreed sales and are having delays with their shipments. Turkish mills are expected to fill the gap arising from this situation by sourcing from the domestic and short-sea scrap markets.

A Turkish scrap yard told Kallanish on Wednesday: “Mills' demand continues for domestic scrap, but we are observing increased pressure on prices. We may see the end of this rising trend soon.”

Current Turkish shipbreaking scrap prices stand at $260/t delivered by truck, up $8/t on-week. Auto bundle scrap prices in the Aegean region, however, have decreased by TRY 5/t to TRY 1,675/t ($248/t).