South Korea's leading EAF mill, Hyundai Steel, maintained its bid for H2 grade scrap at Yen 19,500/mt ($187/mt) FOB Thursday, unchanged from its previous purchases on June 3 and May 26, traders in Seoul confirmed. Its bid price for Shindachi grade scrap was also kept unchanged at Yen 22,000/mt FOB since June 10.
"We did not expect Hyundai to change its bid price because the market has been flat recently," a Tokyo-based scrap trader said.
Another trader said Hyundai's bid had been steady for the past three weeks but could be lowered soon on a stronger yen.
As of Thursday, it could not be confirmed how much the South Korean mill was able to secure. Traders in Seoul said Hyundai would be able to secure at least 20,000 mt at the bid level.
S&P Global Platts assessed its weekly H2 scrap price at Yen 19,000-20,000/mt FOB Tokyo Bay Wednesday, unchanged from the previous week.
Last Thursday, Hyundai booked two HMS I/II 80:20 bulk cargoes from a West Coast US supplier at $233/mt CFR HMS I basis. Earlier this month, one cargo of 35,000-40,000 mt of Russian A3 bulk scrap was secured by the company at $219/mt CFR for July arrival.
Platts assessed East Asian bulk HMS I/II 80:20 scrap Wednesday at $230-235/mt CFR, higher than the previous week's $220-230/mt CFR. The implied mid-point of $232.50/mt CFR was $7.50/mt higher than the week before.
