Bearish sentiments have been prevailing in the Asian scrap market due to the recent decline in Turkey. Though offers prices from major suppliers have decreased over the week, customers have been waiting for more reductions. About 40,000 mt of Japanese H2 scrap have been sold at JPY 24,000/mt ($222/mt) FOB to South Korea, which is JPY 1,000/mt ($9/mt) lower than last week’s offers. The sale has followed the major South Korean steelmaker Hyundai Steel’s announcement of bid prices at this level, SteelOrbis has learned. South Korea-based Dongkuk Steel has built up stocks earlier and some steel production reduction is expected in October.
Offer prices for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 in containers to Taiwan have been at $228-230/mt CFR this week versus $238-240/mt last week, but buyers’ price idea has slipped to $225/mt CFR.
Vietnamese customers have been following a wait-and-see position recently. “A mill said that it would consider buying if the offer is around $250/mt CFR,” a Vietnamese source told SteelOrbis. Late this week, offers for Japanese H2 have been heard at $260/mt CFR, in line with last week’s level, while prices for HMS I/II 80:20 ex-US and ex-EU have been $5/mt higher.