Weekly round-up: Global ferrous scrap price rally continues, except in China

• Turkey’s scrap prices at 4-month high on active bookings: Turkey’s imported scrap prices saw a significant rise after the past two-three months. Current scrap prices are at a four-month high . Buyers actively bought fresh deep-sea cargoes in the last few days. Scrap suppliers managed to push up offers for December shipments. The Turkish upward price momentum is expected to be maintained in the near term.

A Venezuela-origin scrap cargo, containing 25,000 t of HMS 1&2 (80:20) was booked at $505/t CFR. The deal has been finalised for Nov’21 shipment.

SteelMint’s assessment for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) stands at $505/t CFR Turkey, registering a sharp hike of over $25-30/t w-o-w.

• Bids shoot up in Japan’s Kansai scrap export tender: Japan’s Kansai-Cheorwon scrap export tender was concluded this week after a gap of five months. The winning bid was awarded a total 5,000 tonnes (t) of mainly Japanese H2 at an average price of JPY 55,150/t ($483/t) FAS, up significantly by JPY 6,002/t ($53/t) as compared to the bids of JPY 49,148/t ($431/t) FAS fetched in the preceding Kansai tender in May’21, , as per Japan Metal Daily.
• Tokyo Steel raises scrap buy price: Tokyo Steel has announced a hike in scrap purchase prices for the fourth time this week in Oct’21.The steelmaker has raised bids by JPY 500/t ($4/t) for one of its Tahara units, effective from 23 Oct’21. Post-revision, the company’s bid price for H2 scrap will stand at JPY 59,000/t ($518/t) for the Tahara works, prices for all other plants remaining unchanged. Limited offers from traders on chances of further price hike ahead of the peak construction season is the reason behind the continuous rise.
• Hyundai Steel raises bids for Japanese scrap: South Korean steel major Hyundai Steel has increased bids for Japanese ferrous scrap this week. Bids have gone up by JPY 2,500/t ($22/t) for H2 grade scrap and are now at JPY 54,500 ($478/t) compared to the last bid on 14 Oct’21. Bids have risen in view of the recent price increase by Tokyo Steel and rising bids in the Kansai scrap tender.
  
• Vietnam’s imported scrap trade improves on increased demand: The imported scrap trade slowed down last week. However, prices to Vietnam continued to move up. Steel mills are likely to remain active in the near term as demand for billets from China has increased. The increased freight rates, nonetheless, kept market activities slow. SteelMint’s assessment for Japanese bulk H2 is being quoted at $545/t CFR, up by $10-15/t w-o-w.
• China’s Shagang Steel cuts scrap buy price by $13/t: China’s Shagang Jiangsu Steel has announced the second cut in scrap procurement price in Oct’21 this week by RMB 80/t ($13/t) for all grades. After the revision, the price of HMS (6-10 mm) stands at RMB 3,780/t ($591/t), including 13% VAT. Under the pressure of a sharp fall in finished steel prices, most mills have slashed their scrap purchase prices.
• Bangladeshi imported bulk scrap prices up: The demand for scrap sustained due to the onset of the peak of construction season. Furthermore, higher freight rates and container availability issues have resulted in further hike in prices. However, imported scrap offers are likely to go up further, on container and scrap unavailability. SteelMint’s assessment for UK-origin shredded is at $580-585/t CFR Chittagong levels, up by $15-20/t w-o-w.
• Pakistan imported scrap prices show upward trend: Pakistan’s imported scrap offers continued to move up since the last two weeks. Nevertheless, steel mills are actively acquiring imported scrap for the approaching winter, which is considered the high demand season from end-users. In the meantime, the country stayed shut this week due to the Prophet’s birthday and Eid Milad-un-Nabi. Hence, the market is likely to pick up from the next week.

SteelMint’s daily assessment for shredded scrap of UK/EU-origin stands at $560/t CFR Port Qasim, up $25-30/t compared to the beginning of this week.

• India’s imported scrap trade slows down: Amid declining domestic semi-finished steel prices and slow finished products sales, imported scrap buyers have somewhat lowered inquiries towards the weekend after booking material actively at the beginning of this week. In the meantime, imported scrap prices remained at higher levels, while trade has slowed down, considering the price correction in the domestic market.

As per SteelMint’s daily assessment, shredded are at $550-555/t levels, moving up slightly by $5/t w-o-w.