Japanese suppliers have been forced to cut their scrap export prices further this week and negotiation with Taiwanese and Vietnamese customers have been heard. Falling bid prices from major sales destinations and weaker demand in Japan have been the major reasons for the downtrend.
Offers for Japanese H2 scrap have been mostly at JPY 23,000-23,500/mt ($214-219/mt) FOB, down by JPY 1,000/mt ($9.3/mt) compared to the tradable value last week. At the same time, bids have been mostly at JPY 23,000/mt ($214/mt) FOB and below. Suppliers are in negotiations with customers from Vietnam and Taiwan this week and higher sales volumes are expected soon.
Negotiations for ex-Japan H1/H2 50:50 scrap in Taiwan have been heard at $250-255/mt CFR, while last week small deals were transacted at $260/mt CFR.
Vietnamese customers are bidding at $240-245/mt CFR for Japanese H2 scrap, which is far below the tradable level of $255/mt CFR last week. Asking prices from customers for Russian A3 scrap are at around $250/mt CFR in Vietnam.
In South Korea, demand for imported scrap has remained subdued with bids for Japanese H2 all below JPY 23,000/mt FOB. Customers have been asking for $235/mt CFR for Russian A3 scrap, but no new deals have been heard as such a level has been assessed as being too low for all major suppliers.
Weaker demand in the Japanese domestic market has been reflected in regular scrap purchase prices cuts by Tokyo Steel. Today, the company has announced another reduction of prices - by JPY 500-1,000/mt for all five plants. Prices for H2 scrap have been cut by JPY 1,000/mt at the Tahara and Utsunomiya factories to JPY 23,500/mt and JPY 23,000/mt delivered respectively. Prices at Okayama, Kyushu and Takamatsu have been lowered by JPY 500/mt to JPY 24,000/mt, JPY 24,500/mt and JPY 23,000/mt. All prices are effective from July 2.
