Turkish mills have kept their domestic scrap buying prices stable week-on-week, except for Oyak Group, Kallanish notes.
Scrap demand in Turkey was livelier on Wednesday, with inquiries from numerous mills.
Following the deals reported on Tuesday at $336/tonne from the US and around $330/t cfr from the EU, Kallanish heard of another US deal at $340/t cfr ?skenderun, although this remained unconfirmed at the time of publication.
Some market participants noted that the buyer has always paid a premium for this supplier and is not yet a market reference price.
While stronger scrap demand and tightening supply due to winter storms provide support for higher prices, other market fundamentals in Turkey, specifically in steel markets, fail to contribute to this support.
"Dock prices are struggling, and the euro strengthened further to $1.043 on Wednesday versus $1.034 a week earlier. Turkey will unable to buy below $330/t anymore," says an imported scrap supplier.
Meanwhile, due to the approaching eight-day Chinese New Year holiday, market transactions are gradually decreasing in China, resulting in a fall in Chinese rebar and hot rolled coil futures on Wednesday. No near-term recovery is expected in Chinese market until China's return from the holiday at the earliest.
While market participants in Turkey's domestic market are focused on Turkey's Central Bank's loan decision on 23 January, demand for rebar showed no improvement on Wednesday amid high interest rates.
Some economists expect another 250 base points decline in interest rates on Thursday, while others think they should be kept stable, seeing the December 2024 reduction as a mistake amid high inflation.
On Wednesday, Turkish mills' offers for rebar stood at $547-560/t ex-works while prices as low as $540/t were available from stockists.
Meanwhile, Kardemir opened billet sales on Wednesday at lower prices (see separate Kallanish article).
Turkish shipbreaking scrap prices stood at $340-358/t delivered on Wednesday.
The Turkish currency was pegged at TRY 35.65/dollar by Wednesday business close.
Source:Kallanish
