South Korean customers booked a few small-volume cargoes of Russian and Japanese scrap at higher prices late last week.
South Korean steelmaker POSCO has bought shredded scrap at JPY 30,000/mt CFR and a bid for HS was at JPY 30,500/mt CFR, both JPY 1,000/mt ($9.4/mt) above the contract concluded by the same mill in late July. This new deal corresponds to JPY 25,500/mt ($241/mt) FOB for H2 scrap, sources have said, which is in line with the tradable value from Japan to other sales destinations. Nevertheless, there have been reports that overall demand for Japanese scrap in South Korea has remained limited. At the moment, offers from major Japanese suppliers have already increased to JPY 26,500/mt ($250/mt) FOB.
Also 5,000-10,000 mt of Russian A3 scrap was sold at $265/mt CFR South Korea late last week, $6.5/mt above the previous deal price reported on August 4.