South Korean steel producer POSCO has continued to buy Japanese scrap to meet its needs for high grade scrap. POSCO has been bidding for Japanese scrap for months now and, despite the lack of demand for this grade among EAF-based steel producers, Japanese scrap is consumed by mills with blast furnaces or that are producing special steel.
POSCO has shared bids for Japanese HS grade scrap at JPY 49,000/mt ($310/mt) CFR, lowering them by JPY 1,000/mt as compared to the levels recorded on December 20. Due to the fluctuation of the Japanese yen against the US dollar, dollar-based prices have dropped by $9/mt over this period. POSCO’s bids for shindachi grade scrap are still at JPY 49,000/mt CFR or $310/mt CFR, dropping by $3/mt since December 20.
$1 = JPY 157.9