South Korean steel producer Hyundai Steel has announced its bids for Japanese scrap after a break of almost 15 days. The producer has increased its bids for Japanese H2 but, despite the increase in Japanese yen prices, the dollar-based prices have declined a little. However, a South Korean source surveyed by SteelOrbis commented, “They are expecting a demand decrease during the upcoming maintenance works in the September-October period. Demand for steel is also not good, producers are cautious.” According to a Japanese source, “The Japanese market is also keeping high levels" because many players feel a shortage of materials in the market.”
Hyundai Steel has issued its new bid for Japanese H2 grade scrap at JPY 48,800/mt ($342/mt) FOB, which is JPY 1,100/mt higher than the level seen on July 13. Taking into consideration the recent fluctuation of the Japanese yen, dollar-based prices have declined by $1/mt.
The HS price of Hyundai Steel is now at JPY 53,300/mt ($374/mt) FOB, JPY 800/mt higher or $3/mt lower as compared to the levels on July 13. Last week, POSCO’s bids for Japanese HS grade scrap were at JPY 56,000/mt ($399/mt) CFR or JPY 53,000/mt ($377/mt, with the exchange rate being at 140.42 to the dollar) FOB. Consequently, Hyundai Steel’s offers are now above POSCO’s offers for this grade.
As a result, the SteelOrbis reference prices for ex-Japan H2 scrap have remained stable week on week in the range of JPY 47,000-51,000/mt ($337-365/mt) FOB.
$1 = JPY 142.67
