Last week (February 12-19), scrap metal quotes rose in all regional markets. Traders took advantage of active restocking by companies from Turkey and South Korea, increasing the cost of scrap by $15 /mt for all grades of raw materials.
In the Turkish direction, there is an increase in purchases, since consumers did not replenish stocks for a long time, which led to their fall below the permissible level. Also, Turkish mills have successfully sold large quantities of rebar to Africa, which allowed them to make concessions to suppliers of raw materials and conclude several large deals with exporters from the United States, in which HMS 1&2 (80:20) material was sold at $415/mt CIF. Along with this, the rise in prices for billets from China does not allow importers to switch to purchasing semi-finished products. As a consequence, the pricing initiative temporarily shifted to consumers.
In the Asian market, the cost of HMS1 scrap remained unchanged at $400/mt CIF. At the same time, Japanese scrap HMS2 rose in price by $10 to $370/mt FOB. South Korean buyers are also in need of restocking, which has been significantly depleted during the low business activity in previous weeks.
Scrap prices will rise in all markets over the coming weeks, driven by strong restocking by major importers and increased demand for rebar in the Middle East and North Africa. We will also support the quotes and reduce the supply of scrap from US exporters. The forecast price range for next week is $405-415/mt CIF.
Source: "Ukrpromvneshexpertiza"
