The major EAF-based steel producer in Japan, Tokyo Steel, has continued to cut its local scrap purchase prices, with the latest decrease of JPY 2,000/mt effective as of July 29. This is the seventh price cut announced by the producer in the month of July. Japanese sources expect this declining trend to continue in the coming days as there is little support for prices in Southeast Asia. In particular, the support which traditionally comes from China in September when demand usually recovers is expected to be insufficient this year.
After the reduction announced by Tokyo Steel today, July 28, prices for H2 scrap have dropped to JPY 39,000-42,000/mt ($288-310/mt) depending on the mill, down by JPY 2,000/mt or $12/mt from July 26.
Tokyo Steel’s shindachi scrap prices have decreased to the range of JPY 41,000-44,000/mt ($303-325/mt), again down by JPY 2,000/mt or $12/mt. All prices in question are delivered.
On July 28, Bank of Japan deputy governor Amamiya Masayoshi spoke at a meeting with local officials in Iwate about Japan's economic and monetary policy, stating, “With the impact of Covid-19 easing, Japan's economy has finally started to show positive signs, especially in the services sector. However, due to supply-side constraints… production activity in the manufacturing industry has been pushed down. These developments were reflected in the June 2022 Tankan (short-term economic survey three of enterprises in Japan), which shows that business sentiment for the non-manufacturing industry has improved, whereas that for the manufacturing industry has deteriorated.”
Plant |
H2 |
Shindachi |
||
Price (JPY/mt) |
Price change (JPY /mt) |
Price (JPY/mt) |
Price change (JPY/mt) |
|
Tahara |
42,000 |
-2,000 |
44,000 |
-2,000 |
*Nagoya |
41,000 |
-2,000 |
- |
- |
Okayama |
42,000 |
-2,000 |
44,000 |
-2,000 |
Kyushu |
41,500 |
-2,000 |
43,500 |
-2,000 |
Utsunomiya |
41,000 |
-2,000 |
42,500 |
-2,000 |
Takamatsu |
39,000 |
-2,000 |
41,000 |
-2,000 |
$1 = JPY 135.5