Turkish Steel Makers Continue Active Ferrous Scrap Procurement

Turkish steel makers maintain active ferrous scrap procurement. Their current contract price for the mixture of 80% of No.1 heavy melting scrap and 20% of No.2 grade is CFR US$ 461 per tonne (approximately 35,400 yen per tonne), according to Japanese trader source. The price is US$ 5 lower than the recent peak. Steel makers seem to have increased ferrous scrap procurement from EU area since the price is recently lower than U.S. ferrous scrap. Meanwhile, the price showed a slight rebound to US$ 463 in the latest price talks.

U.S. ferrous scrap composite price, which is the international indicator and the average of the market prices in Pittsburg, Philadelphia and Chicago, was US$ 416.83 per tonne in the first week of September. The indicator kept unchanged for 4 weeks. The market price is the highest in Philadelphia where large shippers are located.

Some concerned sources analyze Turkish steel makers continued ferrous scrap import contracts even during Ramadan in August. Thus their scrap procurement is not so active as expected after Ramadan. Meanwhile, another scrap dealer source says most of U.S. major shippers keep strong selling prices.

Turkey’s crude steel production increased by 21% to 19.262 million tonnes for January-July 2011 from the same period of 2010, according to World Steel Association. The monthly production increased by 19.3% to 2.858 million tonnes in July from a year earlier. The country’s crude steel production shows historically high level and then the demand for ferrous scrap is increasing.