Japanese suppliers have continued to enjoy a firm demand for high grade scrap both locally and in South Korea. SteelOrbis has learned of a few bookings for ex-Japan shindachi and HS grade scrap to South Korea at JPY 66,000/mt ($597/mt) FOB and JPY 62,000/mt ($561/mt) FOB respectively, unchanged compared to previous round of sales.
In the meantime, buying activity in China has remained severely constrained by the strong divergence between offers and bids. Specifically, while ex-Japan HS scrap offers have reached $590-610/mt CFR, Chinese customers are said hardly to accept $540-550/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, prices for ex-Japan lower grade H2 scrap have remained fragile due to the conflicting demand-supply fundamentals. Specifically, the ongoing maintenance works at Japanese steel mills and concurrently, the falling bids in Asia have made Japanese H2 scrap suppliers to cut their prices in order to obtain orders. Early last week, a few H2 cargoes were booked to South Korea at JPY 47,500/mt ($430/mt) FOB. As a result, the reference prices for ex-Japan H2 scrap have moved down to JPY 47,500-48,000/mt ($430-434/mt) FOB, decreasing by JPY 500/mt ($4.5/mt) within a week.
In Vietnam, in the meantime, prices for ex-Japan H2 scrap have decreased to $480/mt CFR versus offers $480-500/mt CFR voiced prior, though the trading has remained stalled due to the weak demand caused by escalation of Covid-19 cases in the country.
Concurrently, in Taiwan demand for ex-Japan scrap has remained slow, amid the summer season. Offers for H1/2 50:50 scrap in bulk at $480/mt CFR have continued to fail in attracting any interest, according to market sources.