The main EAF-based steel producer in Japan, Tokyo Steel, has continued to hike its price, following the rises observed in the Kanto tender today. Tokyo Steel has raised its scrap procurement prices as of today, April 12, for H2 and shindachi scrap for all its plants mostly by JPY 500/mt, though for Utsunomiya prices have increased by JPY 1,000/mt. Despite the upward price revision, Tokyo Steel has failed to offset the yen’s depreciation against the US dollar.
Tokyo Steel’s new price levels for H2 scrap are now in the range of JPY 64,500-66,000/mt ($514-526/mt), while for shindachi scrap they are at JPY 67,000-70,500/mt ($534-561/mt). All prices are delivered and effective from April 13. On April 4, the dollar-based quotations of Tokyo Steel for H2 scrap were at $522-530/mt, while for shindachi scrap they were at $543-571/mt. Despite the increases announced on yen basis, the dollar-based quotations have decreased as the yen has lost strength against the US dollar, moving from 122.56 to the dollar to 125.6.
In March, the Japanese yen depreciated more than by five percent against the US dollar. The reason for the depreciation is explained by the Japanese central bank’s slower pace in tightening its monetary policy. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan has stated that Japan will be “alarmed” if the dollar-yen exchange rate crosses above the 130 level.
|
Plant |
H2 |
Shindachi |
||
|
Price (JPY/mt) |
Price change (JPY /mt) |
Price (JPY/mt) |
Price change (JPY/mt) |
|
|
Tahara |
65,500 |
+500 |
70,500 |
+500 |
|
Okayama |
65,500 |
+500 |
69,000 |
+500 |
|
Kyushu |
65,500 |
+500 |
67,500 |
+500 |
|
Utsunomiya |
66,000 |
+1,000 |
68,000 |
+1,000 |
|
Takamatsu |
64,500 |
+500 |
67,000 |
+500 |
$1 = JPY 125.6