A better mood has prevailed in the Japanese scrap export market. The workable level for H2 scrap has remained at late last week’s level of JPY 23,000-23,500/mt ($215-219/mt) FOB. But this level has already been confirmed in a number of deals this week. For instance, some tonnage has been traded at the lower end of the range to South Korea, though early this week Hyundai Steel announced a bid at JPY 22,000/mt FOB for H2 and managed to buy not above 10,000 mt at this price level. To Taiwan, the latest deal for Japanese H1/2 50:50 scrap has been at $254/mt CFR, which is close to JPY 23,500/mt on FOB basis, sources have said.
Major Japanese EAF-based producer Tokyo Steel has stopped cutting domestic scrap purchase prices and announced a first increase on July 16. The company has raised its H2 scrap price by JPY 500/mt ($4.7/mt) for its Utsunomiya plant to JPY 22,000/mt ($205/mt) delivered. Prices for the other four assets have remained stable so far. This is the first increase in Tokyo Steel’s scrap prices since late June.