South Korea: Hyundai Steel Books 90,000 MT Russian Scrap

South Korea's leading EAF steel maker Hyundai Steel has booked 90,000 MT of bulk Russian A3 scrap for June delivery. The deal was concluded at an average of USD 247/MT CFR, at the same price as in the last Russian booking.

The booking price of A3 scrap in this deal is slightly lower than the current market price, as Russian suppliers are presently offering at more than USD 250/MT CFR.

This is one of the largest single booking (by volume) from a South Korean steelmaker for Russian origin scrap. On an average Hyundai Steel's monthly ferrous scrap imports stand at around 50,000 MT, thus making this booking volume of 90,000 MT particularly significant, being almost twice their monthly volume and larger than two USA origin cargo vessels.

Russian A3 grade scrap is believed to be a substitute of domestic HMS and the Japanese HS grade. This large volume booking from Russia by the Korean steelmaker looks to signal the Japanese suppliers to lower their offers and match their bids. As per the prevailing offer Russian A3 scrap is cheaper than Japanese HS scrap by USD 4/MT on landed cost basis.

Last week, Hyundai Steel had lowered its purchase bid for Japanese scrap by JPY 1,000/MT (USD 9) and its bids for H2 and HS stand at JPY 22,000/MT FOB (USD 212) JPY 24,700/MT FOB basis.

`Inputs by Steeldaily