Imported ferrous scrap prices in South Korea continued to fall as mills preferred lower priced domestic scrap. Though, limited trades were reported this week as some mills refilled their inventories to complete pending orders. The outlook for finished steel demand remains bleak and purchases have dropped.
In bulk markets, the weekly Davis Index for #2 HMS settled at JPY19,250/mt ($179/mt) fob Japan on Wednesday, down by JPY1000/mt. Trades for #2 HMS concluded at JPY19,000-19,500/mt fob Japan.
Dongkuk Steel is heard to have booked 12,000mt of #2 HMS at JPY19,500/mt fob Japan, down by JPY1,000/mt from offers in the prior week. The steelmaker also booked Russian A3 grade scrap late last week at $210/mt cfr South Korea.
The weekly Davis Index for containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $215/mt cfr South Korea, down by $4/mt. US suppliers though remained away from offering in containers this week, as they hope for higher prices in the coming days.
Partial or complete lockdown in major supplier countries has created a squeeze as generation from industries, demolition and households has dropped.
The weekly Davis Index for containerised shredded settled at $225/mt cfr South Korea, down by $3/mt. The index for P&S and busheling settled at $230/mt cfr, down $6/mt and $245/mt cfr South Korea, unchanged from the prior Wednesday.
Domestic ferrous scrap prices in South Korea on a downtrend
To save overall input costs amid falling finished steel prices steel mills cut domestic purchase prices for ferrous scrap by another KRW10,000/mt this week. Effective April 7, Dongkuk Steel cut scrap purchase prices by KRW10,000-15,000/mt delivered Pohang plant. Other steelmakers like Korean Steel and YK steel lowered prices by KRW10,000/mt this week.
The weekly Davis Index for domestic Heavy A settled at KRW250,000/mt ($206/mt) del Incheon, down by KRW2500/mt. The Davis Index for Heavy A settled at KRW240,000/mt del Pohang, also down by KRW2,500/mt from the prior Tuesday. The weekly Davis Index for domestic Light A settled at KRW225,000/mt delivered Pohang plant, down by KRW2,500/mt.
($1=KRW1,218.47)