There were practically no deals on the US market, local manufacturers took a wait-and-see attitude until the further trend in the segment of finished products was fully clarified. A significant decrease in demand did not force suppliers to reduce prices, since the cost of production of the material remains quite high. As of the beginning of the second decade of July, the average market price is $ 605 /t at the ports of New Orleans.
In Turkey, the cost of pig iron also went down under the negative impact of cheaper scrap metal and a fairly high supply of raw materials from Russian and Ukrainian traders. The current price range is 590-595 $ /t cif.
According to the forecasts of Ukrpromvneshexpertiza analysts, in the coming weeks, the iron market is expected to continue to decline in value under the influence of several factors. Firstly, due to the high probability of falling scrap prices and bringing stocks up to the normative level. Secondly, the pressure on the quotes will be exerted by the low demand for finished rolled products. At the same time, experts do not expect a significant reduction in prices due to the limiting factor of the high cost of production of the material.
After a short increase, scrap prices resumed their decline under pressure from weak demand for rebar and wire rod, as well as strong supply from US and European suppliers.
In the Turkish market, prices for scrap of all brands in the second decade of July fell by $ 5 due to the difficulties of the factories with the sale of long products and billets. Successful negotiations with scrap suppliers enabled importers to further reduce the level of purchase prices to $ 475 /t cif. However, such prices are not yet acceptable for traders due to the high cost of purchasing scrap metal in the domestic markets of their countries. Currently, the working price range is 480-490 $ /t cif for scrap HMS 1 & 2 (80:20).
In the Asian market, scrap metal quotes also began to decline following the global dynamics. Local buyers have fairly high stocks of material available, which allows them to temporarily reduce purchases to a minimum. As a result, the cost of HMS1 scrap metal dropped to $ 470 /t cif ports in South Korea.
The UPE experts predict that in the near future the scrap metal quotes will continue to move downward due to the importing of the balances to the normative level and the overheating of the market. The increase in supply from the US and EU exporters will also exert pressure on prices. However, the decline in prices will not be significant - low rates of scrap collection in the United States and high prices in the domestic markets of the largest exporting countries will limit the scale of the decline.
