While ex-US scrap offers to Vietnam have stabilized this week amid rising sea freight costs due to the renewal of the war between the US and Iran, workable prices for Japanese scrap in Vietnam have softened. “There is little support for Japanese scrap right now. Local prices are dropping as exports fail to provide meaningful support,” a source commented. The ongoing monsoon season in Vietnam is taking its toll on construction and steel demand, sources report, causing Vietnamese buyers to maintain a cautious stance for now.
Offers from the US West Coast to Vietnam for bulk HMS I/II 80:20 scrap have remained stable week on week at $380/mt CFR. “Due to the downtrend of Japanese scrap prices, no one wants to buy ex-US cargoes right now,” a source reported.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, this is the first week in the past nine weeks in which ex-US West Coast containerized scrap prices did not fall. The price of containerized HMS I/II 80:20 has remained at $305/mt FAS Long Beach port, while P&S 5ft has trended sideways at $320-325/mt FAS, and shredded at $325-330/mt FAS.
Following the ex-Japan H2 scrap deals done by Vietnam at $365/mt CFR last week, workable levels for this grade are now in the range of $360-365/mt CFR amid dropping local scrap prices in Japan and the lack of appetite in export markets.
