On December 23, Tokyo Steel, the main EAF-based steel producer in Japan, announced its new scrap purchase prices, again decreasing them for two of its mills. The reduction of Tokyo Steel’s prices recorded on December 10 was the first one after a long pause, while this is the third. Japanese scrap exports have been under pressure recently not only because of Tokyo Steel’s price decisions, but also as bids from South Korean mills have been going down and demand from Vietnam has been almost at a standstill. Though local scrap prices in Japan are still at significant premiums to exports prices, this latest move by Tokyo Steel has been interpreted as indicating that the price downtrend in general is not finished yet, SteelOrbis understands.
Local H2 grade scrap prices in Japan are in the range of JPY 51,000-55,000/mt ($446-481/mt) delivered.
Accordingly, the prices for H2 at Tokyo Steel’s Tahara Works and Utsunomiya plants have been decreased by JPY 500/mt ($4.37/mt) to JPY 53,500/mt ($468/mt), while prices at other plants have been kept stable. Concurrently, the prices for shindachi scrap have moved down by JPY 500/mt ($4.37/mt) at the same plants to JPY 57,500/mt ($503/mt) and JPY 55,500/mt ($486/mt), respectively.
On balance, following the revision, Tokyo Steel’s new price levels for H2 scrap have remained in the range of JPY 51,000-54,000/mt ($446-473/mt), while for shindachi scrap they are at JPY 53,500-57,500/mt ($468-503/mt). All prices are delivered and effective from December 24.
Plant |
H2 |
Shindachi |
||
Price (JPY/mt) |
Price change (JPY /mt) |
Price (JPY/mt) |
Price change (JPY/mt) |
|
Tahara |
53,500 |
-500 |
57,500 |
-500 |
Okayama |
54,000 |
0 |
57,500 |
0 |
Kyushu |
54,000 |
0 |
56,000 |
0 |
Utsunomiya |
53,500 |
-500 |
55,500 |
-500 |
Takamatsu |
51,000 |
0 |
53,500 |
0 |
$1 = JPY 114.29