SE Asia: Imported scrap market observes lukewarm trade

Southeast Asia’s imported scrap market has observed fewer trade activities after markets resumed from the New Year holidays. High offers impacted the market which led to reduced number of trades.

Buyers opt to wait in Vietnam- Vietnam market is quiet this week as buyers prefer to wait for a price revision in Japan. Additionally, the local scrap prices are looking good at the moment. Prices for Japanese H2 have remained largely firm over the week. Market participants expect clarity in prices after the monthly Kanto export tender which is scheduled on 13 Jan’21.

A Vietnam-based steel mill has booked around 3,000t Japanese H2 scrap cargo towards the closing of last week, sources have reported to SteelMint. The deal has been concluded at $465-470/t CFR basis.

SteelMint’s assessment for Japanese H2 stands at $470/t CFR Vietnam basis and for that USA origin bulk HMS 1&2 (80:20) stands at $495/t CFR Vietnam level, up by $10 w-o-w.

Imported scrap prices to Indonesia up slightly– In the first week of the New Year, Indonesia’s scrap market registered a slight rise in buying price. It’s estimated to continuously go up in the near future, shared trade sources.

Indicative offers-

• PNS in 20 ft container: $450-460/t CFR Jakarta
• Busheling in 20 ft container: $460-470/t CFR Jakarta
• Shredded: $455-465/t CFR Jakarta
• HMS 1&2 (80:20): $440-450/t CFR Jakarta

Indonesia- an emerging ferrous scrap market, witnessed a drop in its scrap imports by 25% m-o-m. The country imported 0.12 mn t in Nov’20 as compared to 0.16 mn t a month ago, as per data maintained with SteelMint. UK remained the biggest supplier and stood at 0.03 mn t in Nov’20, followed by Hong Kong and Australia.

Limited imported scrap offers reported in Thailand– Thailand’s scrap market reported limited offers last week. Due to the disparity between offers and bids, limited trade activities were observed. Bids for Central American origin HMS 1&2 stands at $420, while fresh offers are expected to climb to $430-440/t CFR Thailand by end of this week.

Taiwan’s domestic scrap prices up– Meanwhile in Taiwan, the domestic scrap prices have increased by about $9-10/t last week, following a hike in imported scrap price. This has slowed down the trade activities, shared a trader.