Tokyo — The highest bid at Tuesday's monthly auction for Japanese H2 grade ferrous scrap for export from Tokyo Bay by end October was down Yen 125/mt ($1.1/mt) from last month's winning bid, the organizer of the auction said.
The highest winning bid in the auction held by Kanto Tetsugen, a group of scrap distributors around Tokyo, was Yen 34,735/mt FAS for 5,150 mt. The second winning bid was Yen 34,500/mt for 5,000 mt and the third Yen 34,215/mt FAS for 5,000 mt.
The auction attracted 19 bids for a total 115,650 mt of scrap and the average bid price was Yen 33,377/mt FAS.
A Tokyo-based scarp trader said the average of the winning bids was Yen 34,486/mt FAS, around the level traders were currently paying to collect H2 material in the Tokyo Bay area for export.
Japanese traders are currently paying around Yen 34,500/mt FAS to collect H2 material to be exported from the Tokyo Bay area, down from Yen 34,500-35,000/mt FAS a week ago, sources said.
"But the average of all the bids at Yen 33,377/mt FAS was lower than the price traders are paying to collect; we understand many traders are expecting Japanese scrap prices to fall further," he said.
He said that while Japanese scrap prices have dropped, they were still comparatively higher than those in other countries, and traders who bid at lower prices must be expecting some downward adjustment in Japanese scrap prices.
S&P Global Platts last assessed the Japanese H2 ferrous scrap export price at Yen 34,500-35,000/mt FOB Tokyo Bay on September 5, down Yen 250/mt from previous week's assessment.
