The East Asian bulk scrap market saw renewed buying activity after South Korea's Hyundai Steel booked two HMS I/II 80:20 bulk cargoes from a West Coast US supplier at $233/mt CFR HMS I basis, trading sources in Seoul and US said.
The cargoes are 45,000 mt each and are for June and July shipment.
"The price is relatively high compared to the Taiwanese container price," a regional trader said. A booking earlier this week for US containerized 80:20 concluded at $192/mt CFR Taiwan, Taiwanese sources said. Containerized HMS scrap typically priced $20-30/mt lower than bulk HMS.
A Taiwanese trader said Hyundai's recent deal price of $233/mt CFR was "reasonable" as availability for container scrap at under $200/mt CFR Taiwan was "little." He said the $192/mt CFR Taiwan booking involved "a small tonnage." "The market for bulk scrap is stable, and more likely to go up," he said, suggesting that scrap suppliers had little ability to sell as lower prices.
Earlier in the week, regional participants said they believed the bulk HMS I/II market was around $220/mt CFR Vietnam and South East Asia. A small bulk cargo from Australia was heard concluded at $220/mt CFR South East Asia 80:20 basis, supplier sources on Friday.
On Wednesday, Platts assessed East Asian bulk HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $220-230/mt CFR, lower from the previous week's $220-240mt CFR. The implied midpoint of $225/mt CFR was $5 lower than the week before.
In Japan, Kanto Tetsugen's latest export tender on Friday attracted the highest-priced bid for 5,000 mt at Yen 20,110/mt FAS for Japanese H2 scrap.
This was Yen 6,890/mt lower than last month's highest winning bid of Yen 27,000/mt FAS, trading sources in Seoul and Tokyo confirmed. The highest winning bid is equivalent to about Yen 20,910- Yen 21,310/mt FOB for H2 scrap, a Seoul-based trader said.
The Kanto Tetsugen group of ferrous scrap dealers around Tokyo allocated a total export tonnage of 25,000 mt, slightly above its usual 20,000 mt. The other winning bids were made at Yen 20,000/mt FAS for 5,000 mt; Yen 19,720/mt FAS for 5,000 mt; and Yen 19,500/mt FAS for 10,000 mt. All cargoes are scheduled for shipment by August 15.
Market participants in South Korea said they were still uncertain about the near term direction of the Japanese scrap import market. "Demand for scrap is being restricted by the approaching off-peak season (for steel production), and also, billet prices are not rising much," a Seoul-based procurement manager said.
A Seoul-based trader said that he was not able to read the current scrap market and was waiting for Hyundai's next price bid in its regular Japanese scrap purchase tender. Hyundai Steel previously maintained its bid price for H2 scrap at Yen 19,500/mt FOB on June 3.
Platts had assessed its weekly H2 scrap price at Yen 19,000-20,000/mt ($177-187/mt) FOB Tokyo Bay Wednesday, unchanged from the last week's assessment.
