Japan: Kansai Scrap Export Tender Records Lower Bids

Japan's Kansai Iron and Steel Federation - an association of scrap dealers around the Osaka region concluded its monthly tender for October'19, on 1st Oct'19. The winning bid by 'Arahoe' was awarded a total 5,000 MT of Japanese H2 at an average of JPY 23,030/MT (USD 215), FAS.

The current bid is JPY 240/MT (USD 2) lower than the previous tender result on 17th Sep'19, which was the 2nd tender for September month, while the current bid is lower by JPY 2080/MT (USD 19) as compared to the winning bid of the first tender Sep'19.

Although the bids have slightly moved down this month too, the decline has been less steep as compared to the decline observed in the previous 2 winning bids.

Export offers of Japanese scrap have continued to decline all through Sep'19, with leading Korean Steelmaker Hyundai Steel lowering its purchase bids for Japanese by JPY 2000/MT (USD 19) in the last month.

Earlier today, major EAF steelmaker in Japan, Tokyo Steel also lowered its scrap purchase price across 4 of its plants, after observing 6 price cuts in Sep'19. The downtrend in Japanese domestic scrap market continues, with no sign of bottoming out in prices in the coming days.