Taiwanese customers have become more careful in scrap imports recently, seeing more offer volumes and expecting prices from the US to decline soon, following the reversal of the uptrend by Japanese exporters.
The latest deals for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 in containers were heard at $252-253/mt CFR in Taiwan late last week and early this week. Some sources have reported at even $255/mt CFR, but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication. Last week, the workable price level for scrap from the US was $250/mt CFR. Though there has been a slight increase in deal prices recently, “at the moment the market price is already at $250/mt CFR,” a Taiwanese steel mill told SteelOrbis on Friday, June 19.
After a long-standing uptrend, Japanese scrap exporters have cut prices, trying to attract customers. Offers for ex-Japan H1/2 50:50 by bulk have been heard at $270/mt CFR, down by $5-10/mt from last week. At the same time, there were negotiations reported at $267/mt CFR in the middle of the week and, though there has been no confirmation of a deal being done, most sources believe that this reflects the current market level. “The contract price should be roughly $265/mt CFR,” a source said. A week ago, the contract was done at $270/mt CFR Taiwan.
As a result of lower ex-Japan prices, the gap between the tradable value of ex-US scrap and ex-Japan scrap has narrowed from $20/mt and above to $15/mt, which is the traditional difference.
