Weekly round-up: Global ferrous scrap prices head south, except China

Global ferrous scrap prices drifted down for yet another week in absence of Turkish buying. Prices in the South Asian countries witnessed a decline, touching around a 2-month low level. On the other side, China’s Shagang Steel hiked its scrap procurement prices twice this week.

Global Market Highlights

• Turkey’s imported scrap prices fall in absence of trade: Turkey, the world’s leading ferrous scrap importer, remained silent this week too with no fresh bookings reported. The market remained silent amid extremely weak demand for finished steel alongside depreciating currency. SteelMint’s assessment of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) stood at $470/t CFR Turkey, down by $3/t w-o-w.
• Japan’s scrap export bids lower, but suppliers unmoved: Bids for Japanese scrap continued to head south since the last two months. However, the Japanese suppliers showed less interest in lowering offers further. SteelMint’s price assessment for Japanese H2 scrap stood at JPY 48,000/t FOB basis, unchanged w-o-w.
• Hyundai Steel cuts bid for high-grade Japanese scrap: South Korean steel major Hyundai Steel slashed bids for high-grade Japanese ferrous scrap. Bids for shindachi bara scrap fell byJPY 2,000/t ($18/t) and for HS grade scrap by JPY 500/t ($4/t), compared to the last bid on 10 Dec’21. Post-revision, bids stood at JPY 56,000/t ($493/t) FOB Japan for shindachi bara and JPY 55,000/t ($484/t) for HS grade.
• Vietnam’s imported scrap trade slows down: Imported scrap offers for Vietnam remained mostly stable on a weekly basis. The majority of steel mills opted to wait and watch market changes, owing to negative domestic sentiments. On the other hand, slow overseas demand for billets also remained the major factor behind the silence in the scrap market as high inventory with the mills suppressed demand. SteelMint’s assessment for the bulk Japanese H2 stood at $485-490/t CFR levels, slightly lower by $2-3 w-o-w.
• Tokyo Steel cuts scrap procurement prices by $4/t: Japan’s leading steel producer, Tokyo Steel, reduced scrap purchase bids by JPY 500/t ($4/t) for three of its steelworks, effective from 16 Dec’21. Post-revision, the company’s bid price for H2 scrap stood at JPY 54,000/t ($475/t) delivered to Tahara, Utsunomiya and Kyushu plants, while prices for the other two plants remain unchanged, as per reports.

Prices in JPY
Source: Tokyo Steel

• Shagang Steel raises scrap buy prices twice: China’s Shagang Jiangsu Steel announced a hike in scrap procurement prices twice this week. The steel producer raised prices by RMB 200/t ($31/t) for all grades, effective 13 Dec’21. After the revision, prices of HMS (6-10mm) stood at RMB 3,440/t ($540/t) delivered to headquarters, including 13% VAT.
• Bangladesh’s imported scrap market stays slow: Bangladesh’s imported scrap trade remained slow this week with prices falling considerably on a w-o-w basis. Bearish domestic steel sentiments and rising inventories with mills slowed down market activities. However, mini-mills continued to book small quantities. SteelMint’s daily assessment for UK-origin shredded in containers was at $560/t CFR Chittagong, down by $5-10/t w-o-w.

A 30,000 t US-origin bulk cargo comprising shredded and bonus material was booked at an average price of $530/t CFR Chittagong.
In another deal, 30,000 t of HMS in containers from the EU was booked at $530/t CFR Chittagong.

• Pakistan’s imported scrap prices fall further: Pakistan imported scrap prices continued downtrending since the last five weeks. Limited bookings were occurring despite lower imported scrap prices. Most of the major mills were out of the market for almost the last two weeks. Additionally, a few steel mills were facing cash liquidity issue in the last few weeks which slowed down construction activities. SteelMint’s daily assessment of UK/EU-origin shredded scrap stood at $538/t CFR Port Qasim, down by $10-15/t w-o-w.
• • India’s imported scrap prices fall to around 2-month low: Following the global trend, imported scrap prices into India continued to decline since last couple of months, falling to around a two-month low. However, trading activity slightly picked up since the last week after offers declined further. As per SteelMint’s daily assessment, fresh offers for UK/EU-origin shredded in containers fell to $540/t CFR Nhava Sheva, down further by $5-10/t w-o-w.