Japanese ferrous scrap export prices continued their uptrend due to steady demand from mills in Taiwan, Vietnam and South Korea. Suppliers held offers high citing supply tightness.
The Tokyo government lifted its state of emergency and a stimulus package is likely to be declared soon. Hopes of a recovery in demand kept suppliers optimistic. Though, if global ferrous prices fall, Japan’s export price could come under pressure.
The weekly Davis Index for #2 HMS settled at JPY23,500/mt ($219/mt) fob Japan on Wednesday, up by JPY500/mt. Trades for #2 HMS concluded at JPY23,500/mt fob Japan late last week and early this week.
The Davis Index for busheling settled at JPY26,000/mt ($242/mt) fob Japan, up by JPY250/mt from the prior Wednesday. Japanese scrap suppliers are expecting the price margins between higher grade scrap and low grades scrap to reach earlier levels of JPY6000-7000/mt than the present margin of JPY2,500-3,000/mt.
In small bulk cargoes, #2 HMS traded at $255-260/mt cfr Vietnam, up by $5/mt from the prior week. Bids were at $250/mt cfr Vietnam.
The Davis Index for Japanese HMS 1&2 (50:50) in small bulk cargoes settled at $244/mt cfr Taiwan, up by $4/mt from the prior Wednesday. Trades concluded at $240-245/mt cfr Taiwan. Taiwanese mills, however, slowed bookings on subdued finished steel demand due to ongoing rains for the past couple of days.
The index for HMS 1&2 (50:50) settled at $255/mt cfr Vietnam, up by $5/mt from the prior week. Vietnamese mills in South region booked HMS 1&2 (50:50) at $255-260/mt cfr Vietnam, up by $5/mt from the prior week. Though, only limited quantities were booked.
Offers for busheling in small bulk cargoes were at $285-290/mt cfr Vietnam or JPY26,000-26,500/mt fob Japan, up by JPY500/mt from the prior week.HS scrap offers were at $280-285/mt cfr Vietnam.
The weekly index for #2 HMS settled at JPY22,500/mt fas Tokyo bay on Wednesday, up by JPY1,000/mt. Prices for shredded and HS scrap both rose by JPY500/mt from the prior week to JPY24,500/mt and JPY25,000/mt fas Tokyo, respectively.
Domestic
Japan’s domestic ferrous scrap prices rose as steelmakers resumed operations this week.
Effective May 27, Tokyo Steel raised its bids for domestic scrap delivered to Tahara by JPY1,000/mt. Bids for scrap delivered to other works increased by JPY500/mt. Bids for #2 HMS were at JPY20,000/mt ($185/mt) delivered Utsunomiya plant in Kanto region and JPY19,00/mt delivered Kyushu and Okayama plants. Bids for busheling at Tahara and Utsunomiya were at JPY22,500/mt and JPY22,000/mt fob Japan, respectively.
($1=JPY107.68)