There is currently a large gap between the price ideas of Vietnamese scrap buyers and those of overseas scrap suppliers. As steel demand in Vietnam remains sluggish amid harsh weather conditions, scrap buyers have also become cautious. While ex-US offers have softened slightly for Vietnam, they have failed to attract attention. Sentiment in the Asian scrap market remains stable and so ex-Japan scrap offers to Vietnam have not changed much this week even after the slight increase observed in the Kanto scrap export tender.
Over the past week, ex-US bulk HMS I/II 80:20 scrap offers to Vietnam have softened by an average of $2.5/mt to $350/mt CFR. No new deals have been heard. “No buyers from Asian countries are willing to pay such levels,” a source in the region said this week. Market sources report that bids from buyers for this grade are at around $340/mt CFR.
Some market sources report that there is little chance of repeating deals done by some Vietnamese buyers last week for Japanese H2 scrap at $325-330/mt CFR. “Due to the increased dock price, some of the contract prices have increased slightly,” a source mentioned. While Japanese H2 grade scrap offers to Vietnam remain at $325-330/mt CFR, the workable level for this grade is expected to be around $320-322/mt CFR.
