Glencore begins scrap trade from the EU to Turkiye

Mining giant and trader Glencore is offering to ship scrap metal from a deep-water port in the EU to Turkiye in June. Many market participants view this as a significant structural shift in the global metals industry. This was reported by BigMint.

This offer is being facilitated through a Baltic exporter. Although this supplier has shipped only a limited number of deep-water cargoes to Turkiye in recent years, experts note that its ability to increase volumes was previously constrained by a lack of financing.

It is known that the exporter entered the Turkish market in 2023. Previously, its business focused on small Mediterranean shipments (8–10 thousand tons each) to destinations such as Morocco. However, shipments to Turkiye involve significantly larger cargoes—around 20 thousand tons—which require greater financing and sophisticated logistics.

“Trading in deep-sea scrap is extremely capital-intensive. Cargo consolidation, vessel chartering, and payment cycles require significant financial backing. This is precisely where a corporation like Glencore can significantly scale up its business,” explained a trader from the Baltic region.

Glencore has also signed an agreement with the Polish company Lebal, which specializes in scrap metal transshipment. This will further strengthen the company’s export logistics and its capabilities for handling deep-sea cargo.

Turkiye remains the world’s largest importer of ferrous scrap and one of the leaders in the use of electric arc furnaces (EAF). Under normal market conditions, the country imports 18–20 million tons of scrap annually. Supplies from the U.S., the EU, the Baltics, and the UK are critical for the production of both flat and long rolled products.

Turkiye’s importance is growing amid global decarbonization. Due to pressure from the EU (particularly the CBAM mechanism) and strict environmental standards, scrap metal is transforming from a “recycled product” into a strategic raw material for the green metallurgy of the future.

It is worth noting that Glencore’s entry into this new market segment came just a few months after merger talks between mining company Rio Tinto Plc and Glencore fell through. Although this deal is not directly related to scrap, it underscored the growing focus of global mining and raw materials companies on securing access to promising metallurgical products and raw materials related to decarbonization.