Vietnam's interest in Japanese scrap has continued this week as prices have dropped further, while they have remained uninterested in the scrap offers received from the US. Japanese scrap suppliers may take a step back from exports in the coming days amid the appreciation of the Japanese yen. Scrap demand in Vietnam is on the low side amid slow steel demand in the country.
Offers from the US West Coast to Vietnam for bulk HMS I/II 80:20 scrap have remained at $370-380/mt CFR this week, unchanged week on week. “Due to the large gap between ex-US prices and Japanese offers to Vietnam, there is no interest in ex-US offers,” a source reported.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, prices for the export market on the US West Coast have remained firm this week. Bulk prices to the docks were flat for the sixth consecutive week, and there have been no reports of the price decreases that were announced three weeks ago by exporters having been implemented. Initially, the scrap-to-docks price reduction was delayed as exporters waited for more clarity on higher energy and fuel costs amid escalating volatility in the US-Iran war.
There have been deals done for ex-Japan H2 scrap in Vietnam at $355/mt CFR, with the workable level declining by $5/mt on average since last week. However, the situation may change amid the sharp fluctuations of the Japanese yen-US dollar exchange rate, that are causing Japanese exporters to maintain a cautious stance. Meanwhile, the Kanto scrap export tender in Japan closed with a price decline of $11/mt on August 7.
