Today’s snapshot — 2026-09-03
Top mover: HMS 1&2 80:20 CFR Turkey +2.15% to $380 (SteelOrbis, 2 Sep print) — Turkish mills finally accepted a higher level on an ex-US October-shipment cargo, breaking weeks of resistance.
Notable prices:
- HMS 1&2 80:20 CFR Turkey = $380.00 (+8.00, +2.15%)
- Shredded scrap CFR Turkey = $395.19 (+4.61, +1.18%)
- HMS 1&2 80:20 FOB Rotterdam = $337.28 (+4.61, +1.39%)
- Iron ore 61% Fe CFR Qingdao = $99.56 (+0.09, +0.09%)
Headline driver: The desk read stays freight-and-route led — Brent above $95, Gulf transits at roughly six a day against a ten-day norm near thirteen, and equipment shortages holding seller offers above buyer bids. Today the physical tape agrees: unlike yesterday, the prompt Turkish deep-sea legs confirmed the firmer forward read, all three publishers printing deep-sea scrap up. Iron ore spot edged higher while paper fell, so the cost side is not driving this.
Action signal (if any): Wait on supplier ceilings — sell the firmer Turkish print into buyer outreach, but do not lift a purchase ceiling without a named executable bid; refresh freight in writing and keep CFR validity to 24 hours.