South Korea
The week Davis Index for Heavy A increased by KRW10,000 ($8.97/mt) to KRW 445,000/mt ($399.46/mt) del Incheon on Tuesday.
Domestic scrap prices rose from last week following a rise in Japan’s export price. Buyers have replenished stocks and could stay away from the market until price decline before fresh deals. Import price in South Korea remained unchanged at $428/mt cfr for containerized shipment.
Japan
Tokyo Steel raised ferrous scrap bids by JPY1,000-1,500/mt ($-9.17-13.7/mt) this week. The steelmaker raised ferrous scrap purchase prices by JPY1,500/mt ($13.7/mt) delivered Tahara, Okayama and Takamatsu, effective April 21, and by JPY1,000/mt for Kyushu and Utsunomiya plant. Tokyo steel’s bids for #2 HMS are at JPY44,000/mt ($403/mt) delivered Tahara, JPY44,000/mt delivered Okayama, JPY43,500/mt delivered Kyushu, JPY42000/mt delivered Utsunomiya and JPY42,500/mt delivered Takamatsu. A shortage of domestic scrap and rising demand boosted prices.
Vietnam
The weekly Davis Index for domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by VND19,500/mt to VND9,200,000/mt ($399/mt) delivered South Vietnam inclusive of taxes. Some traders expect bids to rise on improved finished steel demand, shortage of domestic scrap and rising Chinese futures.
Bulk HMS 1&2 (80:20) offers from the US West Coast were at $465-470/mt cfr Vietnam, flat from the week prior. Most mills opted to bid for bulk over containerised due to a shortage of empty boxes at supplier destinations. With bids falling this week, the index settled at $420/mt cfr Turkey on Monday, down $3/mt from Friday. Thus many Asian countries are negotiating for lower prices with US suppliers.
A few deals for busheling in the domestic market heard at VND9,800,000/mt delivered South Vietnam on Tuesday.
Thailand
The weekly Davis Index for domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by THB100/mt ($3.2/mt) to THB13,500/mt ($432/mt) delivered Rayong mill inclusive of taxes. On Tuesday, deals were heard at THB13,500/mt.
Many steel mills avoided imported scrap bookings due to Ramadan holidays and preferred domestic material for immediate melt requirements.
Deals for domestic P&S 5ft heard above THB14,000/mt on Tuesday. After a couple of deals closed from ASEAN billet suppliers at $660-665/mt cfr China, offers have dropped by $5/mt in the last two days on subdued demand.
Malaysia
The weekly indexes for HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by MYR80/mt ($19.4/mt) and MYR100/mt to MYR1,600/mt ($388/mt), and MYR1,650/mt delivered western mills and eastern mills inclusive of taxes, respectively. Offers for domestic P&S 5ft were at MYR1,900/mt delivered mill on Tuesday. Most Malaysian mills have halted purchases from seaborne markets during Ramadan. Amid shortage of domestic scrap, many mills raised bids for domestic scrap to avoid depletion of inventory.
Malaysia’s 15pc duty on exports of ferrous scrap has raised the landed cost of scrap for buyers at import destinations. Some traders expect higher demand for domestic scrap in the coming weeks which could spike bids.
China
The weekly Davis Index for the HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by CNY40/mt to CNY3,500/mt ($538/mt) delivered mill from the prior week. Bids for imported scrap rose following the limited availability of domestic scrap.
Mills are expected to raise billet import to fulfil domestic and export demand during restrictions. Domestic billet prices rose this week due to rising Chinese futures and curbs on finished steel production. Billet price rose by CNY50/mt($7.7/mt) to CNY4,940/mt($760/mt) ex-mill from the prior week.
($1=KRW1,114; JPY109, TWD 28.12, CNY6.5, THB31; MYR4; VND23,099)