Miller on Scrap Exports: Muted Turkish activity

Freight rates have remained high in the US and Northern Europe, and there has been little or no activity in the Mediterranean region since our last export update on March 10. At that time, SMU reported a sale to Turkey at the beginning of March from Northern Europe at $363.50 per metric ton (mt) CFR for HMS 80/20.

The last US cargo was at $374/mt CFR. Since then, there have been no reports of additional cargoes transacted that can be confirmed. It is the holy month of Ramadan and activity general slows during this time. However, many traders are quite surprised about the dearth in purchases considering the continuing needs of the Turkish steel industry.

Stephen Miller

Stephen Miller started his career in the scrap metal industry in 1978 at Luria Brothers in Cleveland. Over the last 40-plus years, he has worked in all capacities in the trading business. He has had positions in both domestic and international scrap trading. In addition to scrap, Miller was at the forefront of the pig iron trade and established a pig iron distribution company under the name of Ferrosource, Inc. Most recently, Miller has concentrated on the scrap export market and regularly does consulting for several companies in the industry.

Stephen Miller

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