Japanese ferrous scrap export prices rose further during the past week, led by increasing domestic scrap prices, trading sources in Seoul and Tokyo said Wednesday.
S&P Global Platts assessed Japanese H2 grade ferrous scrap export prices at Yen 32,000-33,000/mt ($283-$292/mt) FOB Tokyo Bay Wednesday, up Yen 1,500/mt week on week.
On Wednesday, South Korea's Daehan Steel was said by sources to have booked Japanese H2 at Yen 33,000/mt FOB, sources in Seoul and Tokyo said.
Last Friday, a South Korean mill was said to have placed its bid at Yen 31,500/mt FOB for H2 material, but no booking was confirmed.
On the same day, Hyundai Steel, South Korea's leading electric arc furnace mill, placed its bid at Yen 30,500/mt FOB for H2, unchanged from its last bid on October 27, but no booking was confirmed, sources said.
Hyundai did not increase its bid price despite the rising market as it was focusing on other scrap from elsewhere, including China and Russia rather than Japan at the moment, a source close to the company said.
Meanwhile, South Korea's Daehan Steel lifted its domestic scrap buying price by Won 10,000/mt ($9/mt) effective from Tuesday arrivals, sources said.
"If other South Korean mills follow and lift their domestic scrap buying prices, Korean mills will start showing appetite for Japanese scrap, but they will have to pay higher prices to secure the volume," a Tokyo-based trader said.
Other than South Korean mills, a Vietnamese mill was said to have placed a bid at $320/mt CFR for 5,000 mt parcel of H2 late last week, without success.
"It is equivalent to around Yen 31,200-31,800/mt FOB [depending on the freight charge], and we cannot accept anything below Yen 32,000/mt FOB as we are paying higher prices to collect scrap for export, which is expected to increase further," another Tokyo-based trader said.
Japanese traders were paying around Yen 31,500-32,000/mt FAS to collect H2 material to be exported from eastern Japan, up Yen 1,000/mt from a week ago, trading sources said.
The second Tokyo-based trader said offers to oversea mills were a minimum Yen 33,000/mt FOB, up Yen 1,000/mt week on week, so the price gap between sellers and buyers had widened. "Japanese mini mills are paying higher prices to collect scrap, so we had better deliver our scrap to domestic mills."
In Japan, leading mini mill Tokyo Steel Manufacturing lifted its scrap buying prices by Yen 1,000/mt for all works and a steel center effective from November 14 arrivals.
The company has consistently raised its scrap buying prices since October 27, and its total increment has now reached Yen 2,500-4,000/mt. H2 buying prices by its Utsunomiya works, north of Tokyo, have reached Yen 34,000/mt.
The Asian bulk heavy melting scrap market remained unchanged while some additional bookings were made during the past week.
On November 9, Dongkuk Steel booked one 32,000 mt of US bulk cargo at $325/mt CFR on HMS I basis, a source close to the company said.
Following Dongkuk on the same day, a Vietnamese mill booked the same volume at $330/mt CFR Vietnam, a source said.
"Following the latest bulk bookings made last week, all US bulk suppliers are sold out until this year's shipment," a Seoul-based trading source said.
"For next year's shipment, offer prices are currently on hold," a Seoul-based scrap trader said.
While Hyundai Steel was holding back from buying Japanese and US bulk scrap, it was actively eyeing China-origin scrap, another source close to the company said.
The steelmaker has been collecting offers for Russian A3 grade and expected to send out bids this week.
Also, Hyundai has been working on booking China-origin shredded grade scrap at around $330/mt CFR, though no bookings have been confirmed yet, sources said.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese mills were eyeing Hong Kong-origin scrap, with offer prices around $330-335/mt CFR on an HMS I/II 50:50 basis, up from the previous booking price of $310/mt CFR Hai Phong and $317/mt CFR Phu My, a Vietnamese trader said.
Platts kept East Asian bulk HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $325-$335/mt CFR Wednesday, unchanged from last week.
