On August 28, Japanese steel producer Tokyo Steel announced another decrease in its scrap purchase price, this time reducing them by JPY 500/mt ($5/mt) at two plants, Okayama and Takamatsu.
As a result, the purchase price at Okayama is now at JPY 23,500/mt ($222/mt) delivered, while the purchase price at Takamatsu is at JPY 22,000/mt ($208/mt) delivered. All prices are effective starting from August 29. The producer’s purchase prices have been left unchanged at its Tahara plant (JPY 25,500/mt or $241/mt), at Kyushu (JPY 24,500/mt or $232/mt) and at Utsunomiya (JPY 26,500/mt or $251/mt), all delivered.
The recent price drop announced by US scrap suppliers in the international market (ex-US scrap prices have fallen in all major sales destinations, in Turkey, Taiwan and Vietnam) and weaker sentiments in the Japanese domestic scrap market will put pressure on export prices for Japanese scrap. South Korean customers are still bidding for Japanese H2 scrap at JPY 27,000/mt ($255/mt) FOB this week.
$1 = JPY 105.79