Weekly round-up: Global ferrous scrap prices show downtrend

• Turkey’s imported scrap trade softens on dull demand: The Turkish scrap market has slowed down mainly due to dull demand for finished steel in the country. A total of around seven deep-sea cargo deals were recorded by SteelMint during the course of the week. Meanwhile, Turkish buyers are waiting for a further correction. SteelMint’s assessment for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) stands at $445-450/t CFR Turkey, marginally down by $2-5/t w-o-w.
• Japan export offers down on strong domestic demand: Japanese scrap prices have shown certain corrections in both overseas and domestic markets. However, lesser bids from overseas countries have somewhat weakened the sentiments. The most prominent buyers like Bangladesh and Vietnam remained on the sidelines this week. On the other hand, Japanese suppliers were extremely active in trading in the domestic market, due to high demand. SteelMint’s price assessment for Japanese H2 scrap exports stands at JPY 45,000/tonne (t) FoB, down by JPY 500/t w-o-w.
• Tokyo Steel cuts scrap prices by $5/t: Japan’s leading EAF steel mill, Tokyo Steel, has revised its scrap purchase prices for the fourth time in Aug’21 this week. The company has decreased prices by JPY 500/t ($5/t) for all its five steelworks. After the correction, the company would pay a bid price at JPY 48,000/t ($436) for H2 scrap delivered at its Tahara and Utsunomiya steelworks.

Source: Tokyo Steel

• Hyundai Steel lowers bids for Japanese scrap: South Korean steel major Hyundai Steel has reduced bids for Japanese ferrous scrap by JPY 1,000/t ($9/t) against the last bid placed on 20 Aug’21, sources informed SteelMint. The bid price for H2 scrap is now set at JPY 44,000/t ($400/t) FoB. The bid price for H2 grade is lower than Japan’s market price. Bids for premium Japanese Shindachi bara scrap have settled at JPY 62,500/t FoB ($568.5/t).

• Vietnam’s imported scrap market subdued on worsening Covid cases: The country’s woes on surging Covid cases have put a dampener on market activities. Imported scrap trade into Vietnam witnessed downstream demand amid rising Covid cases, resulting in lockdown extension while bulk offers stayed constant w-o-w as buyers are clueless about market sentiments. SteelMint’s assessment of Japanese bulk H2 are at around $470/t CFR Vietnam levels, unchanged w-o-w.

Vietnam domestic ferrous scrap procurement price for H1 scrap stands at VND            11,400/kg ($496/t), while VND 11,100/kg ($483/t) is the price that has been settled for H2 grade scrap owing to limited market activity.

•  Bangladesh mills remain active in container bookings, bulk market quiet: Bangladesh’s imported scrap market became slightly active this week with limited deals for containers reported. Nonetheless, market players appeared to be active post-Muharram holidays that ended last week. However, subdued finished steel sales made market sentiments bearish to a certain range. Buyers opted to “wait and watch” amid the ongoing monsoon. SteelMint’s price assessment for UK/EU-origin for shredded stands at $535/t CFR Chittagong, down by around $10/t w-o-w.
•  Pakistan’s ferrous scrap offers rebound towards weekend: Pakistan’s traders returned to the market after the Muharram Ashura holidays, purchased actively as demand moved up due to inadequate scrap availability in the domestic market. However, major mills are holding back from concluding deals in anticipation of a further drop in offers.

After limited deals for EU-origin shredded material were concluded at $510-515/t CFR levels earlier this week, a few mills booked around 4,000 t of UK-origin scrap at $525-530/t CFR Port Qasim. SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment for shredded scrap of UK/EU-origin stands at $525-530/t CFR Port Qasim, down by around $10-15/t since the beginning of this week.

• India’s imported scrap trade remains restricted on limited offers: Indian mills kept themselves away from making fresh bookings of imported scrap owing to increased trade and reasonable prices in bordering countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. Limited offers were floated by traders. However, trading is expected to resume from early September on the condition that there might be some more corrections in global prices. SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment for UK/EU-origin shredded scrap stands at $525-530/tonne (t) CFR Nhava Sheva, down by $5-10/t against last week.