Having already increased its local scrap procurement prices four times since March 9, the main EAF-based steel producer in Japan, Tokyo Steel, has continued to raise its scrap procurement prices. Today, March 29, the company has announced another increase of JPY 500/mt in its purchase prices for H2 and shindachi scrap for all its plants.
Tokyo Steel’s new price levels for H2 scrap are now in the range of JPY 63,500-64,500/mt ($514-522/mt), while for shindachi scrap they are at JPY 66,000-69,500/mt ($534-562/mt). All prices are delivered and effective from March 30. Amid the depreciation of the Japanese yen against the US dollar, the increases on yen basis have only resulted in $7-9/mt decrease in the dollar equivalents.
The yen has hit a seven-year low against the US dollar this week. According to the Financial Times, the currency has dropped more than seven percent against the US dollar so far this month. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) does not follow other countries’ tighter monetary policies yet, and some verbal statement is expected to be issued by the BOJ before it makes any intervention. While a weak yen is considered an advantage for Japanese exporters by some market analysts, some state that the pace of the yen’s depreciation is disconcerting.
Plant |
H2 |
Shindachi |
||
Price (JPY/mt) |
Price change (JPY /mt) |
Price (JPY/mt) |
Price change (JPY/mt) |
|
Tahara |
64,500 |
+500 |
69,500 |
+500 |
Okayama |
64,500 |
+500 |
68,000 |
+500 |
Kyushu |
64,500 |
+500 |
66,500 |
+500 |
Utsunomiya |
64,500 |
+500 |
66,500 |
+500 |
Takamatsu |
63,500 |
+500 |
66,000 |
+500 |
$1 = JPY 123.55