On January 17, SteelOrbis reported Japanese domestic H2 scrap purchasing prices by mini-mills in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya regions at JPY 35,300-35,800/mt ($318-323/mt) delivered to customer. Firms including Tokyo Steel were reportedly paying more in other cities.
Around January 22, domestic prices firmed up to JPY 36,200-36,400/mt ($326-328/mt) on support from export pricing, but export bids from South Korean mills began to place pressure on export prices as they adjusted downward, as reported by SteelOrbis on January 23.
On January 30, SteelOrbis reported further declines in South Korean bids that attracted a surplus of scrap inventory at the bid prices. Subsequently, Japanese domestic mills began to adjust scrap buying prices downward. Tokyo Steel announced reduced scrap buying prices at its various facilities on February 1.
Sources inform SteelOrbis that domestic scrap prices by mini-mills in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya regions are presently at JPY 36,000-36,300/mt ($327-330/mt) delivered to customer. While prices have slightly adjusted downward in JPY domestic terms compared to January 22, due to a strong domestic currency against the dollar, scrap prices have increased by $1/mt from the bottom of the January 22 range and $2/mt from the top of the same range.
USD = JPY 110.82 (Jan 17)
USD = JPY 111.12 (Jan 22)
USD = JPY 109.94 (Feb 5)