South Korea: Hyundai Steel Cuts Bid for Japanese Scrap Purchase

South Korean steelmakers lowered their scrap purchase bids again for Japanese scrap this week. In bid presented today by Hyundai Steel for Japanese H2 scrap procurement, with the price moving down by around JPY 500/MT (USD 5) to JPY 18,500/MT (USD 171) FoB Japan, as compared to JPY 19000/MT bids presented previously (not an open bid).

Notably, the bid price is even lower than the Japanese Kanto export tender of April '20 which concluded this week at an average price of JPY 20,656/MT (USD 190) FAS, which had fallen by JPY 1999/MT (USD 18) M-o-M, against last month's result. This indicates further fall in the Japanese domestic market in the coming days.

The bid prices for other grades were set at JPY 19500 /MT (USD 180) for H1 scrap, shredded and HS, while the bid for Shindachi Bara stands at JPY 21000/MT (USD 194).

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Hyundai steel had booked 20,000 MT of A3 grade Russian scrap this week at an average price of USD 209/MT CFR South Korea, marginally down in comparison to last week's booking.