The continuing fall in Turkish scrap prices caused Benelux scrap values to slump last week. Dock prices in the Benelux, which stood at €320-335/tonne at the beginning of the week, were mostly at around €300/t ($327) in Belgium and €310-315/t ($338-343) delivered in the Netherlands on Friday.

Benelux exporters are seen following a very cautious stance in their scrap procurement due to the lack of buying appetite of Turkish mills. Amid the strengthening euro against the dollar on Friday and weak demand, they were forced to decrease their prices despite the slow inflow of material.

In Turkey, amid weak steel demand, Turkish mills remained mostly out of the scrap market last week. Struggling to gauge a clear picture of the market ahead of Turkey’s Central Bank’s loan decision on 22 June, mills have avoided committing to large tonnages of scrap. Consequently, they did not even express their price targets despite the decreases in scrap offer prices.

A single booking was confirmed at the beginning of last week at $387/t for HMS 1&2 80:20 and $407/t cfr Turkey for bonus grade.

On Friday, a Baltic-origin supplier was heard offering HMS 1&2 80:20 at below $385/t cfr, while a US-origin cargo was rumoured done at $385/t cfr.

A supplier tells Kallanish: “I believe Turkey can buy Baltic-origin HMS 1&2 80:20 at below $380/t cfr and a US-origin cargo at $380-382/t cfr. No mill would pay higher today ,while the pressure on scrap prices is likely to increase if Turkey remains uninterested in scrap purchases until 22 June.”

“Steel sales, which have slowed significantly this week, are also challenging mills,” another supplier said on Friday. “Obviously, they are expecting lower prices for scrap as prices slumped in both the EU and the US.”

Another supplier adds: "There are panicked suppliers in the market. I think even US suppliers would accept to sell at below $380/t cfr today.”

Mills remained uninterested even in lower-priced short-sea offers at $360-365/t cfr.

Domestic rebar demand, which remained weak throughout the week, showed no recovery on Friday, causing prices to fall further. As market participants have no idea what decision the new head of Turkey’ Central Bank will take on the new loan rates and how the currency will respond, they remain very cautious in their trading activities. Mills' offers stood mostly at $627-635/t ex-works levels while offers at as low as $615/t were available from stockists.