South Korea’s leading EAF steelmaker – Hyundai Steel has booked another US bulk scrap cargo for Mar’19 delivery. The company recently contracted for a bulk scrap vessel from the US comprising total 32,000 MT scrap equivalent to HMS 1 at USD 311/MT, CFR South Korea.
Hyundai Steel’s scrap import prices have inched down by USD 2/MT as against the last US bulk contract concluded at around USD 313/MT, CFR in the closing Dec’18.
According to reports, the composition of cargo is 29,000 MT Shredded and 3,000 MT Bonus grade scrap which will be supplied to Dangjin steel mill for early March’19 delivery.
Bids for Japanese H2 stand stable – According to reports, the steelmaker holds bid for Japanese H2 firm at around JPY 29,500/MT (USD 271), FoB since 14th Dec’18. Japanese scrap suppliers have resumed offering this week. They tried to raise prices by JPY 500-1000/MT on a sudden appreciation of Japanese Yen against USD, however, that seems to have failed as South Korean buyers refused to accept these levels.
Market eyes Kanto’s monthly scrap export tender – Tokyo Steel reduced domestic scrap purchase prices by JPY 500/MT (USD 5) at all plants pulling H2 at Utsunomiya plant down at JPY 31,000/MT (USD 285). Japanese scrap exporters eye Kanto Tetsugen tender scheduled on 11th of January. However, sentiments in the export market likely to remain bearish now.
South Korean domestic scrap prices on the uptrend – In a weeks’ time, South Korea’s domestic scrap inventories with leading steelmakers fell considerably by around 50,000 MT following which many steelmakers made successive price hikes. This has resulted in an increase of KRW 20,000-30,000/MT (USD 18-27) in domestic scrap prices, however, amid correcting global scrap prices and weak finish steel demand, it is expected that prices would reach short term peak soon in South Korea.
~ Inputs from SteelDaily
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