- International scrap prices have moved up in the current week with Turkey’s import scrap market leading the way. With the upward pace of import scrap prices in Turkey exceeding expectations, benchmark HMS I/II 80:20 scrap CFR prices for Turkey have recorded a 2.74 percent or $12/mt rise week on week, reaching $450/mt CFR on average. This translates as a 2.16 percent increase month on month. Lively demand along with the strong stance of sellers on prices have led to this upward movement. Sentiment remains positive in Turkey’s import scrap market, though the lack of significant tonnages of finished and semi-finished steel exports from Turkey is still exerting downward pressure on scrap quotations.
-Transaction activity in the local US scrap market started slowly this week. Although prices have not completely settled yet, the general expectations signal a sideways movement against the backdrop of limited cut grade and shredded scrap supply. Although some mills have tested a price cut of $20/gt for all grades in the south and southeast, sellers expressed no interest. Some sources stated that scrap flow has slowed down in the local US scrap market, and, with the exports recovering without high levels of inventories at docks, East Coast exporters may need to raise their prices in the near future. As regards current settled scrap prices, prices on the West Coast have settled at sideways, whereas prices in the northeast have also settled at “mostly stable” for HMS, P&S, and shredded scrap, while Ohio Valley scrap prices have not yet settled. Bushelling scrap, however, settled at down $20/gt, which was previously expected.
- Vietnamese mills have turned their focus for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap purchases from Australia and the US as Japanese sellers have increased offer prices for H2 very sharply amid the lively demand and uptrend in their domestic market. As a result, prices for HMS I/II 80:20 have posted visible increases compared to the previous deals. Vietnam has bought a cargo from Australia, with HMS I/II 80:20 scrap priced at $516/mt CFR. In addition, there has been a rumor of a sale of ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $525/mt CFR, but this could not be confirmed by the time of publication. Offers for H2 scrap to Vietnam have surged to around $530/mt CFR this week, which is significantly higher than the levels recorded in deals last week at $500/mt CFR.
- Japanese scrap suppliers have been bullish this week, seeing continued strong demand and the uptrend locally. The reference price for H2 has increased by JPY 500-2,500/mt or $4.5-22/mt since last week, being at JPY 53,000/mt ($475/mt) FOB on average.
- The active demand in the local market in Japan, especially in Kanto area, has been reflected in two hikes in purchases prices announced by Tokyo Steel this week. The first one was for JPY 1,000-2,000/mt ($9-18/mt) for all five of its plants, and the second was by JPY 2,000/mt for one asset, Utsunomiya. As a result, in total the rise for this letter plant was as much as JPY 4,000/mt or $36/mt.
- The import scrap price increase in India has been very sizable this week. Following the increase in local rebar base prices and improvements in traded volumes in the market, Indian secondary mills were more confident in restocking imported raw materials this week, with deal prices ranging at $520-530/mt CFR for shredded in containers, up by $10-15/mt from $510-515/mt CFR seen a week before.
- Import scrap prices have added $15-25/mt in Bangladesh this week amid the uptrend in the global market and high freight costs. The deal price level for containerized HMS I/II 80:20 scrap has reached $520/mt CFR, while offers for bulk HMS have not been below $535/mt CFR.