Scrap prices in Turkey have softened on fresh deals circulated in the market since Thursday night. However, suppliers do not find the deal price levels workable, while mills think scrap should be priced even lower.

Three deals were heard from the EU at $364.5/tonne cfr from Germany, $361/t cfr from the Netherlands and $360/t cfr from Belgium for HMS 1&2 80:20. A UK supplier sold at $363/t cfr, while a Denmark-origin supplier achieved $365/t cfr for the same grade. These point to a decline in scrap prices, as foreseen by Kallanish earlier last week.

A Benelux supplier tells Kallanish: “I think those cargoes were sold in panic due to weak sentiment at the beginning of the week. I don’t think any European supplier would offer below $365/t cfr today amid Turkey’s rising rebar quotes, high dock levels and the strong euro at $1.116.”

A Turkish rebar mill, however, notes: “The rebar price rises are the result of lower output amid outages, which also explains why such a low amount of scrap is being bought. We should look at Asian billet prices in Turkey to find the reasonable price level for scrap.”

Another mill agrees and adds: “Imported billet is offered at $480/t cfr Turkey levels. There’s no way in such a market that we can buy scrap at $360/t cfr, produce and compete with these sellers!”

“With import prices at $360/t cfr, the cost of scrap for us is $420/t today considering a $40-50/t yield loss and $10/t unloading and transportation cost. Then, you have to produce and try to survive in the global arena. Those who say scrap is cheap are just dreaming,” says another mill.

In the short-sea market, the latest deals from Montenegro and Romania were done at $358-359/t cfr Turkey, pointing to a narrowed spread between short-sea and deep-sea prices.

Scrap suppliers expect Turkey to buy another 7-10 cargoes for October shipment, meanwhile.

In Turkey’s domestic rebar market, mills’ offers stood at $590-610/t ex-works on Friday, unchanged from a day earlier. Limited availability of certain dimensions, rather than improved demand, drove a price hike earlier in the week.