Japan
On Friday, Tokyo Steel has announced a purchase price raise of JPY500/mt ($5/mt) for domestic scrap delivered to its Utsunomiya, Tahara, and Kyushu plants. This would be a fourth raise since July 17 and the second in August. Bids for domestic scrap at its other two works, Okayama and Takamatsu steel center, however, were kept unchanged.
Effective August 8, purchase prices for #2 HMS will be at JPY23,500/mt ($223/mt) delivered Utsunomiya works in the Kanto region, up by JPY500/mt from the prior price revision on August 5.
Bids for busheling delivered to Tahara and Utsunomiya plants are at JPY26,000/mt and JPY25,500/mt del plant, respectively.
Bids for #2 HMS and busheling are at JPY24,000/mt and JPY25,500/mt delivered Kyushu, respectively. For #2 HMS and busheling deliveries to Okayama mills, bids are at JPY23,000/mt and JPY24,000/mt delivered mill, respectively.
Scrap trades in the domestic market are expected to remain slow amid maintenance activities scheduled by steelmakers. Mountain day on Aug 10 and Obon festivities from Aug 13-16 will also impact trades.
In the seaborne markets, prices rose by $10-15/mt this week as buyers in Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea, and Bangladesh preferred competitively priced Japanese scrap over material from other destinations. Other supplier countries like the UK or US have raised their offers citing supply crunch.
Results for the monthly scrap export tender, Kanto Tetsugen are scheduled to be announced on Aug 19, which would offer further clarity on Japan’s export prices.
Taiwan
US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded at $255-257/mt cfr Taiwan on Friday. The daily Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled unchanged at $255/mt cfr Taiwan despite offers trending up following global prices.
Bids for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from South America were at $240-245/mt cfr and the US at $245-250/mt with no trades heard. Demand for finished steel continued to be under pressure.
Buyers booked limited containerized scrap shipments amid a lack of clear price direction in the global market. Offers rose by $10/mt this week but buyers were not keen to purchase at these levels.
Japanese small bulk cargoes of HMS 1&2 (50:50) were offered at $275-280/mt cfr Taiwan and shredded at $295/mt cfr Taiwan.
($1=TWD29.41; JPY105.65)