South Korean steelmaker POSCO has continued to share its bids for Japanese scrap, this time increasing its bid prices. After Japan’s Kanto tender closed at a higher price, followed by Tokyo Steel’s announcement of increased scrap purchase prices on October 9, POSCO is now seeking to secure scrap tonnages.
POSCO has shared its bids for Japanese HS grade scrap at JPY 48,000 46,500/mt ($323/mt) CFR, JPY 1,500/mt higher than the previous levels announced last week. POSCO’s bids are now $5/mt on US dollar basis compared to last week.
This time, POSCO has shared bids for Japanese shredded scrap at JPY 47,000/mt ($316/mt) CFR. On September 27, POSCO’s bids for Japanese shredded scrap were at JPY 45,500/mt ($319/mt) CFR, with the exchange rate at $1 = JPY 142.63. The JPY 47,000/mt level indicates that FOB-based prices for Japanese shredded scrap are at around JPY 44,000/mt or $296/mt, with the freight rate between South Korea and Japan standing at around JPY 3,000/mt.
Considering the gap between ex-Japan shredded and H2 scrap prices at around JPY 3,000-4,000/mt, this means indications for ex-Japan H2 prices for South Korea are at JPY 40,000-41,000/mt FOB or $269-276/mt FOB. This dollar-based H2 scrap price range on FOB basis is very similar to that recorded at the end of September.
$1 = JPY 148.54