Global Ferrous Scrap Market Overview - Week 37, 2019

Global ferrous scrap market witnessed another week of a sharp downturn in almost all major markets. Turkey observed deep-sea cargo bookings at sharply lowered prices, which soon reflected in offers to South Asian markets falling steeply. Japan's Tokyo Steel lowered its scrap purchase price thrice this week while China's Shagang Steel hiked its purchase bids on a tight availability of scrap

Turkey - Price for imported scrap to Turkey again plunged by a considerable margin this week, after few deep-sea cargo bookings were confirmed at further lower price .

The recent deals included a prominent supplier from Baltic region sold a bulk cargo to an Izmir region-based steelmaker comprising 25,000 MT of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at USD 240/MT, CFR Turkey. In another booking, a USA based supplier sold a mixed cargo to an Istanbul region-based major steelmaker, comprising of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at USD 240/MT, Shredded scrap at USD 245/MT and Bonus Scrap at USD 250/MT CFR Turkey.

Assessment of US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) scrap has moved down to USD 240/MT, CFR Turkey, down USD 12/MT against last week's report. While assessment of European origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) currently stands at USD 235/MT, CFR Turkey.

Japan - After observing 2 price cuts in a week since last 3 weeks, Japan's EAF mini-mill Tokyo Steel, observed 3 price lowerings in its scrap purchase price this week, in a span of 4 days.

Following both the price cuts, the company is now paying JPY 23,500/MT (USD 217) for H2 scrap delivered to Utsunomiya plant while the price for H2's delivery to its Tahara and Okayama works stand at JPY 24,000/MT (USD 222) and JPY JPY 22,000/MT (USD 203) respectively.

Japan's 'Kanto Tetsugen' monthly tender for scrap export, concluded this week on 11th Sept'19, in which a total of 22,100 MT of H2 scrap was awarded at an average price of JPY 24,849 /MT (USD 230), FAS, as compared to JPY 27,714/MT in Aug 2019, witnessing a sharp fall of JPY 2865/MT (USD 27) on a monthly basis..

China - Following a price hike by RMB 60/MT (USD 8) last week, China's Shagang Steel announced another price hike for all grades of domestic steel scrap procurement by RMB 80/MT (USD 11 ) this week, from 10th Sep'19, on lower stocks with Chinese mills as the scrap supply is tight

Post the said price hike, Shagang Steel is now paying RMB 2,730/MT (USD 384) inclusive of 13% VAT for HMS 3 (6-10 mm thickness) delivered to headquarter works in Zhangjiagang, up RMB 80/MT against the last report of RMB 2,650/MT on 06 Sept'19. While HMS 1 (thickness not less than 20 mm) and HMS 2 (6-10 mm thickness) stands at RMB 2,810/MT and RMB 2,770/MT respectively.

South-East Asia - Imported scrap prices to South East Asia have moved down significantly over the last 2 weeks, amid recent global downturn and slow demand domestically.

P&S scrap offers to Indonesia from UK & European origin stood at USD 280/MT CFR Jakarta with several deals being concluded. Busheling scrap from Europe was being traded at around USD 295/MT CFR. Shredded scrap from North America and Europe were assessed at USD 270/MT, CFR Indonesia while HMS 1&2 (80:20) was being offered at around USD 260-263/MT, CFR.

Vietnam also observed a sharp fall in offers, with Japanese H2 scrap is being offered at USD 278-280/MT CFR Vietnam, while offers for higher quality HS scrap stand at around USD 310-315/MT CFR. Sharp fall in Japanese domestic scrap prices also reflected in its export offers dropping this week. HMS 1&2 (80;20) in containers from the USA is being traded USD 260-265/MT CFR.

India - Imported scrap to India witnessed a slight rise in buying activity, as offers dropped further amid global decline. With increasing inquiries in the market on account of viability in prices, the sentiments seemed to be improving.
Assessment for containerized Shredded from the UK/Europe and the USA stands at USD 265-267/MT, CFR Nhava Sheva, down by USD 8-9/MT W-o-W, with few deals being reported even at prices USD 3-4/MT lower than the market, by the end of the week.
HMS 1 offers from Dubai were reported to around USD 260-265/MT, CFR almost at par with imported shredded, however, trades remained scarce. UK origin HMS 1 is now being assessed at around USD 250/MT CFR. South African origin HMS offers to India were reported at USD 265/MT CFR, with only a few offers on permit issues.

Pakistan - Imported scrap offers to Pakistan showed a significant drop for the 3rd week in a row, in line with the continuous fall at global levels. 2nd Half of the week witnessed active buying, while domestic market mostly remained unchanged.

Assessment for containerized Shredded 211 scrap from UK/Europe stands at USD 261-264/MT, CFR Qasim, down by a further USD 10/MT against the closing of the last week. Several bookings for Shredded scrap were reported at USD 262-263 later in the week after the market opened from Muharram holidays.

Dubai origin HMS scrap prices have further reduced by USD 10/MT this week, with HMS 1 (Super) being offered at around USD 265-268/MT, however, trades remained very limited. European origin HMS scrap was assessed at around USD 255/MT, CFR Pakistan.

Bangladesh - Bangladesh offers continued sharp decline throughout the week, following the continued global downtrend. Decent deals were reported even prices kept sliding down as the week progressed.

Two bulk scrap cargo bookings were reported recently to Bangladesh from a USA (west coast) based supplier to 2 major Chittagong based mills, with each vessel consisting of mixed cargo of 32,000-35,000/MT each, booked at USD 270/MT for shredded and USD 265/MT for HMS 1.

Assessment of Shredded scrap from North America & Europe dropped to USD 280/MT CFR Chittagong, down 8-10/MT w-o-w. In the beginning of the week, few deals for shredded scrap were reported at around USD 283-285/MT CFR. However, by the closing, most offers were reported at USD 280/MT level.