Japan's Kanto Scrap Export Tender Witnesses Fall in Bid by USD 18

Bids have hit nearly over 3.5 years low, according to data maintained with SteelMint.

Kanto Tetsugan - Japan's monthly ferrous scrap export tender for the month of April'20 has concluded today (9th April'20) in the Kanto region.

A total of 20,200 MT of Japanese H2 scrap was awarded at an average price of JPY 20,656/MT (USD 190) FAS, as compared to JPY 22,655/MT in Mar'20. This month's average bid significantly lowered by JPY 1999/MT (USD 18) against last month's bid.

Notably, only 20,200 MT of H2 scrap was auctioned off this month, in comparison to 30,000 MT last month, with reduced demands being observed in most overseas markets due to covid-19 pandemic causing lockdowns and productions.

Japan based trade sources indicated that domestic steel demand in the country has weakened due to COVID-19 which has kept scrap purchase prices under pressure.

After Japanese domestic scrap prices continued to fall all through March'20, with Tokyo steel's purchase bid for domestic H2 falling below JPY 20,000/MT at Utsunomiya and Tahara Plants by March end, a sharp drop in export tender was anticipated.

Earlier this week, Japan announced a one-month lockdown, which is expected to impact its scrap exports volumes to a considerable extent, while domestic demand in Japan too remains at severely diminished levels.

JPY currently stands at 108-109 levels against USD, appreciating slightly in comparison to 111 levels one month back