In a recent conversation with industry participants, SteelMint learned that South Korean leading EAF steelmaker- Hyundai Steel has recently booked two bulk cargoes of ferrous scrap from the USA. According to sources, the steelmaker has booked around 40,000 MT of cargo from Schnitzer steel and 45,000 MT of cargo from SIMS steel recycler at an average equivalent price of (HMS 1) USD 333/MT, CFR South Korea. These cargoes are scheduled to arrive in Jun’19.
Scrap prices from US scrap suppliers have been moved down sharply by around USD 17/MT against the last contract as prior to this, Dongkuk Steel had booked a US bulk cargo during mid-March from SIMS Steel at an average price of USD 350/MT, CFR South Korea. It is being believed that prices can drop further next week.
Yesterday the company lowered bids for Japanese scrap by JPY 1000/MT (USD 9) following softening Japanese domestic scrap prices. The company reduced H2 bids to JPY 33,000/MT (USD 296), FoB Japan against JPY 34,000/MT, FoB level last week.
Bids for low-grade Japanese scrap like H 1&2 (50:50) stand at JPY 33,500/MT and H1 at JPY 34,000/MT, FoB. Bids for medium grade scrap like HS and Shredded assessed at JPY 37,000/MT (USD 332) and for high-grade scrap Shindachi Daichibara (SB) at JPY 38,000/MT, FoB Japan. According to SteelDaily’s reports, the company seems to have contracted only for 55,000 MT of Japanese scrap out of the total 160,000 MT bids offered this week. After booking massive 100,000 MT last week it has slowed down purchases with anticipation of Japanese prices to correct further.
Global scrap prices show softening – Participants shared that Turkey based steel mills are presently looking for a correction in prices which keeps global scrap prices fluctuating. In recent deal confirmed, Turkey-based steel mill has booked HMS 1&2 (75:25) scrap at lower prices of USD 304/MT, CFR Turkey. This keeps assessment of European origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) around USD 308-310/MT, CFR Turkey, down USD 10/MT against last week report. Also, upcoming Ramadan holidays likely to put pressure on prices further. US export offers in containers to South East Asian markets reported a drop of USD 5-10/MT this week.
Leave a Reply