Though overall demand for scrap in the Asian market has been still limited, Japanese exporters have managed to increase prices slightly in deals to Taiwan and Vietnam. Nevertheless, the uptrend is unsustainable at the moment, most sources believe.
A deal for Japanese HMS I/II 50:50 scrap has been done in Taiwan at $220/mt CFR recently, while previous transactions have been done at $210/mt CFR a week earlier. “Bids were at $205/mt CFR early last week, so prices definitely improved,” a source said. Though US-based suppliers have been out of the market due to holidays over the past few days, they will increase prices for HMS I/II 80:20 in containers to “about $205-210/mt CFR in Taiwan soon,” a trader said, while transactions were as low as $195/mt CFR last week.
About 20,000 mt of Japanese H2 scrap have been sold to Vietnam at $230/mt CFR last week, up $10/mt from the previous booking. This deal corresponds to JPY 21,000-21,500/mt ($195-200/mt) FOB. Overall demand in Vietnam has been slow and most customers have been considering this price level as too high and have been bidding at $220/mt CFR. “Basically only mills that in need of scrap can support price increase,” Japanese seller told SteelOrbis.
Nevertheless, bid prices for scrap have remained weak in South Korea. About 10,000 mt of ex-Japan H2 have been booked by Hyundai Steel at its new bid of JPY 18,500/mt ($172/mt) FOB, announced late last week. Most sellers reject to sell at such a low level.
