On Friday, February 7, major Japanese EAF-based steel producer Tokyo Steel has cut its scrap purchase prices for the third time this week, which has resulted in $18/mt drop since late last week. It is expected that weak demand in Japanese local market will keep put pressure on export prices.
Tokyo Steel has cut scrap purchase prices for all its five plants by JPY 1,000/mt ($9/mt). Prices for Utsunomiya and Kyushu plants have come to JPY 21,000/mt ($191/mt) delivered, while those for the Tahara works have gone down to JPY 21,500/mt ($196/mt) delivered. Quotations for Takamatsu and Okayama are at JPY 19,000/mt ($173/mt) and JPY 20,000/mt ($182/mt) delivered, respectively. The prices are effective from February 8. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, the previous revision by Tokyo Steel was made on February 5.
Market sources have reported that local scrap demand is very low and it is unlikely to improve in the coming weeks, as a result, the downtrend is expected to continue. Ex-Japan H2 prices have dropped by JPY 2,000-2,500/mt ($18-23/mt) over the week to JPY 23,000/mt ($209/mt) FOB, as SteelOrbis reported yesterday.
