While Turkish steel sales have been very quiet this week, the deep sea scrap segment has also been impacted by this quietness. Starting with ex-US scrap bookings towards the end of last week, benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 scrap quotations moved down slowly through the current week. “There is no support from the steel side for scrap prices to hold their ground,” a steel producer said. There were rumours of some producers accepting $560s/mt ex-works levels for domestic rebar sales at the beginning of the week, “Even the rumour of lower rebar prices is enough for traders to take a step back,” a source noted.
Also, European sub-collectors reported that the bids they received from scrap exporters are moving down. A German sub-collector said he expects collection prices to soften in the coming week, noting, “Everyone believes that the sentiment is negative. This can trigger some sales.” On the other hand, a European scrap exporter stated that flow to their yards at €290s/mt DAP is almost zero, adding that the previous €295/mt DAP has also attracted slow scrap flow. The support coming out of India has also declined for scrap over the current week. Turkish mills are aiming for $350s/mt CFR Turkey for European scrap, SteelOrbis hears, while for US scrap their target prices are closer to $360s/mt CFR. For now, sellers are resisting, trying to hold their ground, citing slow scrap flow to yards as well as collection prices. The negative outlook persists in the market. SteelOrbis believes that deep sea scrap quotations still have some small room to decline in the coming week.
Under the current conditions, the deep sea benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in CFR terms have moved down by 0.95 percent week on week. The prices are now 2.54 percent lower month on month in the deep sea segment, with prices being in the range of $360-369/mt CFR.
October scrap prices in the US Northeast have finally settled. Although it was initially speculated that mills might try to take prices down by $10-20/gt across the board this month, resistance from sellers has kept most grades stable. Similar to settled scrap prices in the US Northeast, Ohio Valley scrap prices settled this month at sideways for HMS, P&S and busheling scrap, and at down $10/gt and $20/gt for shred, respectively.
SteelOrbis has learned that the current price for Mexican domestic shredded scrap is now at MXN 7,250/mt ($388/mt), compared to MXN 6,750/mt ($382/mt) two weeks ago. Additionally, HMS I/II scrap prices are being heard at MXN 6,050/mt ($324/mt), compared to MXN 5,650/mt ($320/mt) two weeks ago.
In line with the negative expectations voiced by many players over the past week, Japan’s Kanto scrap tender has been closed with a price decrease. The Kanto tender average price this month was at JPY 50,236/mt ($337/mt) FAS, indicating a decline of JPY 1,080/mt or $12/mt, while the tonnage was again 15,000 mt, unchanged month on month.
Since Taiwan had a two-day National Holiday this week, trading was slower than usual in the country and the domestic rebar market was also silent. Also, due to the negative sentiments in the global scrap market to which the lower price in Japan’s Kanto scrap export tender also contributed, Taiwanese mills have reduced their import scrap quotations. Offers for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers to Taiwan have declined slightly to $367-375/mt CFR. Japanese scrap suppliers are sharing offers for H1/2 (50:50) scrap by bulk to Taiwan at $373-375/mt CFR.
While Vietnam’s import scrap market has remained silent in terms of import scrap purchases this week, South Korean steelmaker Daehan Steel has shared bids for Japanese HS scrap at JPY 53,800/mt ($360/mt) CFR, as SteelOrbis has heard.
Today, October 13, Tokyo Bay FAS-based prices for H2 grade scrap are at JPY 51,500/mt ($345/mt), stable on yen basis week on week. This level shows that FOB prices are still at JPY 52,500/mt ($351/mt) for this grade. Dollar-based prices have declined by $1/mt due to the depreciation of the yen against the US dollar.
SteelOrbis’ reference price for ex-Japan H2 scrap remains unchanged this week at JPY 50,000-52,500/mt ($334-351/mt) FOB.
In Bangladesh, most foreign suppliers for scrap in bulk have kept their prices relatively unchanged, with only a deal for ex-Japan scrap reported to have been done this week for 15,000 mt of ex-Japan H2 scrap in the Kanto Tetsugen export tender at JPY 50,236/mt ($337/mt) FAS or around $407-410/mt CFR Bangladesh. Meanwhile, indicative offers for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap have been estimated at $420/mt CFR and for shredded 211 scrap at $425/mt CFR, the same as last week. In the containerized segment, however, offers for shredded scrap have lost around $5/mt over the past week to $425-430/mt CFR, mainly for ex-UK and ex-Australia origins.
In Pakistan, offers for ex-UK/EU shredded scrap in containers have been voiced at $410-415/mt CFR, the same as at the end of last week. However, new deals for at least 3,000-4,000 mt in total are reported to have been signed at $408-410/mt CFR, down by $5-10/mt week on week. According to sources, import scrap activity in Pakistan has been slower this week affected by problems with opening letters of credit (LCs) coupled with slow finished steel demand. At the same time, although local rebar producers have been strongly affected by soaring energy costs, this week their prices for local 10-12 mm rebar of grade 60 have decreased by PKR 12,000-14,000/mt ($43-50/mt) over the past week.