Christmas and New Year round the corner market has already sunk in holiday mood with activities remaining subdued. However in some corners activity is inevitable. Scrap levels have firmed up on winter shortage and Turkish buying.
It is learnt that most of the Black sea and Russian mills have been postponing further deals as January casting is sold out. They are flexing muscles to hike offers by at least USD 10-15 per tonne for February.
Current transaction levels are round USD 510-525 per tonne FOB, Black Sea, depending on the source and market. Some impressive volumes have been booked in Middle East at USD 555 per tonne, CFR for USD 525 per tonne FOB.
Hopefully New Year will bring relief for the beleaguered steel market with some recent blips of improvement already on the horizon.
