London (Platts)--14Dec2012/1240 pm EST/1740 GMT
Two prompt-load US-origin scrap cargoes were sold late this week to EAF steelmakers in Turkey at marginally higher prices compared to deep-sea bookings made earlier in the week, market participants said Friday. A major US supplier sold a cargo at a composite price of $393/mt CFR Izmir understood to consist of 38,000 mt of heavy melting scrap I/II (80/20 blend), 5,000 mt of shred and another 5,000 mt of plate and structural to be loaded out of a terminal in Houston. The same supplier was heard selling a mixed shred-HMS I/II (80/20 blend) cargo at $390/mt CFR Iskenderun to a longs producer. Platts daily price assessment inched up $3/mt to finish the week at $388/mt CFR Turkish ports for premium HMS I/II (80/20 blend) as scrap recyclers followed Turkish mills' attempts to increase finished steel prices with some higher, prompt shipment sales. A large UK recycler sold at $386/mt CFR Marmara for 40,000 mt of HMS I/II (80/20 blend) to one of Turkey's biggest EAF mills for a deal signed Thursday. Similarly a third US-origin cargo was agreed with another Iskenderun-area arc furnace mill, buying 13,000 mt of HMS I/II (80/20 blend), 10,000 mt of shred and 2,000 mt of bonus grade at $390/mt CFR. Also heard later in the week was a UK-origin cargo sold to another longs producer in Iskenderun, consisting of 15,000 mt of HMS I/II (80/20 blend) and 5,000 mt of shred at $381/mt CFR. Overall, eight deep-sea cargoes were seen sold this week to a variety of Turkish producers--the highest intake on the world's largest import market since early November. At the end of the week, Black Sea shipments were being bid for by mills unwilling to book from US-based suppliers at the new, higher figures. Sales from Rostov, Russia were achieved at $377/mt CFR North Turkey earlier in the week, before a 13,500 mt cargo was booked at $380/mt CFR Aliaga from a Romanian trader, according to sell-side market participants.--Ciaran Roe, ciaran_roe@platts.com--Edited by Richard Rubin, richard_rubin@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Platts SBB Steel Markets Daily. See more information at http://www.platts.com/Products/steelmarketsdaily