The Week in One Page — Week of 6 June 2026
Bottom Line
Scrap prices into Turkey fell $5 per tonne this week and are now near their floor at around $405. Sell existing Turkey-bound supply now at $405–407 per tonne; a second buying round is expected the week of June 10.
5 Things You Need to Know
- Turkish steel mills returned from a 10-day holiday and found the market softer than expected. The first post-holiday deal was done at $406 per tonne — confirming the drop is real.
- Iron ore (the raw material driving Chinese steel production) fell 8% in three weeks to just above $103 per tonne. Markets think $100 is next. Lower iron ore signals weaker Chinese factory activity.
- Saudi Arabia’s largest steel mill raised its scrap buying price by $27 per tonne (+6%), the biggest Gulf demand move in our records. The Iran war disrupted Saudi Arabia’s normal supply, so it’s paying more to compensate.
- A fire at Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plant in Wales on June 3 reduced UK steel output. Less UK steel production means more British scrap available for export — slightly more supply competing for Turkey deals.
- Bangladesh is actively buying scrap at $385–395 per tonne while Turkey hesitates. US East Coast scrap has buyers — Turkey is just the slowest right now.
Top 3 Actions This Week
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Sell Turkey-bound scrap now at $405–407 per tonne (CFR). All three price services agree the market is $404–407. The pre-holiday $410 level is gone. Turkish mills still have unfilled June orders, so a second buying wave is expected around June 10–15 — but do not hold out for $410.
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Keep Pakistan offers firm at $420–426 per tonne and wait for fresh index data. The Pakistan price index went stale during the holiday (last reading was $424.52 on May 22). Saudi Arabia buying more scrap at home means less cheap Gulf scrap undercutting Pakistan prices. Hold firm until the index updates.
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Contact UK and European scrap suppliers to check availability. The Port Talbot fire means UK mills need less scrap. More British material may soon be available for export to Turkey — get ahead of it before competitors do.
Why Prices Moved (and Other Changes)
Turkish mills were on holiday May 22–June 1 and did not buy any scrap. Price services published old numbers during that silence. When mills returned, they found the real market $4–5 lower than the published price. One deal was done at $406 per tonne, and the services caught up immediately.
Iron ore kept falling because China’s rainy season slows construction, port stockpiles are building, and a rumour about a specific low-quality Australian cargo knocked $3 per tonne off in one session. Saudi Arabia’s sharp domestic buy-price increase reflects the other side of the Iran war: less DRI (a steel input) reaching Saudi mills means they compete harder for scrap.
The June freight price sheet is confirmed: shipping one 20-foot container of scrap from the US East Coast to Pakistan costs $855, unchanged from last month.
What to Watch Next Week
- Turkey’s second buying round (~June 10–15). Once the US domestic scrap trade settles, exporters will re-engage Turkey. Watch for the Fastmarkets US-origin Turkey index to print a new number — $406–408 holding would confirm the floor.
- Pakistan scrap index (Fastmarkets, twice weekly). A fresh print near $422–426 confirms Pakistan is holding. A drop below $420 means recalibrating offers.
- Iron ore crossing $100 per tonne. If the KORE 61% Fe benchmark crosses below $100, that signals unusually weak Chinese demand — likely delaying Turkish mill scrap purchases further.
Plain-English Glossary
- HMS 80:20 — Heavy Melting Scrap; 80%/20% blend of two grades; the standard bulk scrap traded globally.
- CFR — Cost and Freight; price includes shipping to the buyer’s port.
- DRI — Direct Reduced Iron; a raw material for steel mills, now disrupted in the Gulf due to the Iran war.
- EAF — Electric Arc Furnace; a steel plant that melts scrap (vs a blast furnace that uses iron ore).