Scrap importers in Taiwan have faced further price increases this week amid lower offered volumes from the US due to the wait for the US presidential election results. Japanese exporters have been more bullish, amid an improvement in demand for scrap in Asia in general.
Ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in containers have been booked at $288/mt CFR Taiwan late this week, SteelOrbis has learned, which is $6/mt higher than the level at the end of last week. In fact, for some mills who booked ex-US material last time about 10 days ago, prices have increased by around $8/mt. “The US scrap offers have disappeared. Very little volume was offered. Because of the ongoing election, sellers are more conservative,” a local buyer said.
The trades for ex-Japan H1/2 50:50 by bulk have been reported at $305/mt CFR and slightly above this week, up by $5-10/mt from the previous workable price level. Japanese suppliers have been focused on sales to S. Korea and other Asian countries, and so they have not been ready to give any discounts for Taiwanese customers. Hyundai Steel bought at least 40,000 mt of Japanese high grade scrap this week, according to sources, at prices that SteelOrbis reported yesterday, November 5.
The expectations for next week are still mostly positive in the Taiwanese market, mainly because the low availability of scrap is projected to continue. Due to the fresh Covid-19 lockdown in Europe and the coming winter season, scrap collection in this region will be reduced. Also, US suppliers are unlikely to increase sales volumes much in the coming weeks.