The Asian scrap market has experienced a quiet week as South Korean and Vietnamese producers have stayed out of the market, while Taiwanese mills report no change in quotations.
As previously reported, South Korean steelmakers are increasing their domestic scrap prices to maintain scrap flow, while they do not have much need for imports. Hence, no bids by South Korean producers were shared for Japanese scrap this week. Indications for ex-US West Coast bulk HMS I scrap are at around $390-400/mt CFR South Korea.
Deal prices for ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in containers to Taiwan have been at $360-365/mt CFR, $5/mt higher on the upper end week on week. Taiwanese sources state that deals for Japanese H1/2 50:50 scrap by bulk to Taiwan have been closed at around $375/mt CFR, stable week on week.
Domestic HMS I/II 80:20 scrap prices in Taiwan have remained stable at TWD 10,700/mt ($332/mt) ex-works. Due to the depreciation of the Taiwanese dollar against the US dollar, this stability has been accompanied by a drop of $3/mt week on week in the dollar-based price. The official domestic rebar prices in Taiwan have decreased to TWD 19,600/mt ($608/mt) ex-works. Exchange rate fluctuations are taken into consideration when calculating the dollar-based price changes.
The range of Japanese H2 offers to Vietnam remained stable at $390-395/mt CFR over the past week.
In this context, the SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Japan H2 scrap has remained stable at JPY 49,000-51,000/mt ($339-349/mt) FOB.