Ferrous scrap import prices in Asia increased as Japanese suppliers raised export offers. Turkish mills continued booking bulk cargoes from the US at higher prices, pushing offers up in Taiwan, Vietnam and South Korea. Importers, however, are waiting for downstream demand to pick up before they book more ferrous scrap.
Japan
Japan’s domestic ferrous scrap prices were supported by the government-announced stimulus package for steelmakers. Tokyo Steel announced a second price rise by JPY500-1000/mt in a weeks period.
Effective May 29, the mill raised its bids for domestic scrap delivered Tahara by JPY1,000/mt. Bids for scrap delivered to other works increased by JPY500/mt. Bids for #2 HMS were at JPY20,500/mt ($195/mt) delivered Utsunomiya plant in Kanto region and JPY19,500/mt delivered Kyushu and Okayama plants. Bids for busheling at Tahara and Utsunomiya were at JPY23,500/mt and JPY22,500/mt del plant, respectively.
Taiwan
The Davis Index for US-origin containerised shredded settled at $237/mt cfr Taiwan, up by $2/mt. No deals have been heard for shredded for two weeks.
The country is witnessing heavy rains since last week and thus importers are booking small quantities of #1HMS and HMS 1&2 (80:20). Deals were heard for #1 HMS at $235/mt cfr, with the Davis Index for the grade increasing by $6/mt to $236/mt cfr Kaosiung.
The Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $228/mt, up by $2/mt from Wednesday and by $5/mt from prior Thursday. Indexes for P&S and busheling rose by $5/mt to $241/mt and $250/mt cfr Taiwan, respectively, on higher offers from the US.
In small bulk markets, Japanese suppliers offered #2 HMS at $240-245/mt cfr Taiwan, up by $10/mt from the prior week. Shredded traded at $250-255/mt cfr Taiwan, up by $5/mt from the prior week. Japanese HMS 1&2 (50:50) bids were at $245/mt cfr Taiwan.
Vietnam
Offers from US suppliers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) in bulk cargoes were flat at $260-265/mt cfr Vietnam.
In small bulk markets, Japanese #2 HMS traded at $255-260/mt cfr South Vietnam. HMS 1&2 (50:50) and HS traded at $255-260/mt and $280-285/mt cfr Vietnam, respectively, both up by $5/mt from the prior week.
Japanese shredded in small bulks traded at $260-265/mt cfr South Vietnam and busheling at $275-280/mt cfr Vietnam.
The Davis Index for containerised P&S settled at $260/mt cfr Vietnam, up by $5/mt from the prior week. Deals for P&S in FEUs were at $260/mt cfr Vietnam.
The index for US-origin containerised shredded and HMS 1&2 (80:20) cfr Vietnam settled at $253/mt and $234/mt, up by $3 from the week prior. Deals of Australian HMS 1&2 (80:20) were heard at $235/mt cfr Haiphong.
Vietnamese mills expect improving finished steel demand in the domestic market as construction activities are picking up post lifting of Covid restrictions.
Indonesia
Indonesian mills were majorly away from buying this week as Eid holidays are yet to end. Most Hong Kong suppliers of higher grades scrap cleared previous orders and there were no fresh offers. Indonesian mills could resume trades after June 2.
US suppliers raised their offers as they received better prices from Turkish mills. US-origin shredded in TEUs was offered at $250-255/mt cfr Jakarta and P&S scrap in FEUs at $265/mt cfr Jakarta, both up by $5/mt from the prior week. The Davis Index for containerised P&S 5ft settled at $256/mt cfr Jakarta, up by $1/mt from the prior week.
The weekly index for busheling scrap settled at $263/mt cfr Jakarta, up by $3/mt. Trades for Malaysian busheling concluded at $265-268/mt cfr Jakarta. Busheling from the UK and EU was offered at $280-285/mt cfr with no bids.
The Davis Index for containerised shredded settled at $251/mt cfr Jakarta, up by $1/mt from the prior week.
The Davis Index for containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $228/mt cfr Jakarta, down by $2/mt from the prior week. Offers for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) dropped marginally to $227-232/mt cfr Jakarta. Bids were at $225/mt cfr Jakarta.
Other regions
A trader booked Australian origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) in containers at $235/mt cfr Thailand. Central America-origin containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) was offered to a Malaysian mill at $215-220/mt cfr Malaysia, with bids at $210/mt cfr Malaysia.