Japanese scrap export prices fall, market awaits Kanto tender results

Japanese scrap export offers have dropped further this week, on limited demand. The most prominent buyers like Bangladesh and Vietnam opted to wait and watch, while South Korea’s major mills took a step back and did not present bids for Japanese scrap this week. Mills are waiting for the Kanto tender result, which is scheduled on 19 Aug’21.

SteelMint’s price assessment for Japanese H2 scrap exports stands at JPY 45,500/tonne (t) FoB, down by JPY 500/t compared to last week. Japanese suppliers continued their trading in the domestic market at workable price levels.

South Korea’s steel major POSCO has also lowered its bid price for Japanese highergrade scrap. During the negotiations, the bid price for shredded was set at JPY 60,000/t and for HS at JPY 63,000/t levels. However, the deal remained unconfirmed till the time of publishing this report.

Bangladesh, Vietnam step back on dull market sentiments: Bangladesh and Vietnam, two prominent Japanese scrap importers, have stepped back from the market for more than one month now. Limited deals were heard for Vietnam.

• Offers for bulk imported Japanese H2 scrap are being quoted at $470/t CFR Vietnam, down by $5/t w-o-w.
• The Bangladesh market resumed its activities on 11 Aug’21 as the government released lockdown restrictions. However, bulk cargo bookings remained absent. Indicative offers for bulk H2 prices were heard at $545-550/t CFR Chittagong.

China continues billet bookings on dull scrap demand: Due to dull scrap demand, Chinese steel mills decided to go one step ahead and started booking semi-finished (billet) products at workable prices. The latest offers for billets were heard at around $700/t CFR levels.

While the bid for Japanese HRS101 scrap stands at $530-540/t levels, less interest was reported even at these levels.

Tokyo Steel scrap buying prices unchanged: Japan’s leading EAF steel mill, Tokyo Steel, has kept its scrap purchase prices unchanged this week. The company had reduced its scrap purchase prices twice last week. The company is currently paying H2 scrap at JPY 49,000/t ($446) for Tahara and JPY 48,500/t ($442) for the Utsunomiya works.