South Korea: Scrap arrivals in major ports decline by 45,000 t w-o-w

A total of 114,189 t of scrap entered major ports in South Korea this week. A decrease of 45,000 t was recorded from the previous week. The arrival of a large USA-made mother ship purchased by POSCO last week has returned to the normal level, which had greatly increased.

Company wise scrap arrivals

• Hyundai Steel: Hyundai Steel brought in more than 50,000 t of scrap. The company has brought in 7,500 t and 9,319 t, to Incheon and Dangjin, respectively. Additionally, 36,443 t came into Pohang. The total is 53,256 t. This is the first time in three months since the end of February that Hyundai Steel has reported the arrival of more than 50,000 t of scrap. The share of Hyundai Steel's arrivals in ports is 46.6%, the highest this year.
  
  
• Dongkuk Steel: Dongkuk Steel imported 13,000 t of scrap from Incheon alone. This is the third smallest amount among its ports of entry this year. In 2023, the company will account for about 23% of total imports on an average, but only 11% was reported this week. Continuing from last week, Dongkuk Steel's recent port arrivals have been on a downtrend.
  
  
• POSCO: POSCO brought in 7,988 t and 3,000 t to Gwangyang and Pohang, respectively. A total of 10,988 t of scrap has arrived. Imports, which surged due to the large mother ship arriving last week, fell back to the 10,000 t level.
  
  
• Others: SeAH Besteel brought in 25,000 t to Gunsan. During the month of May, the amount of imports was somewhat low, but recently, the reported amount of port arrivals has recovered to the usual level of around 20,000 t. 7,145 t of scrap from Daehan Steel and YK Steel entered Busan, and 4,800 t of scrap imported from Korea Steel entered Masan.
  
  

Grade wise scrap

There are more reports of shindachi and shredded advanced scrap than usual. The amount of reported arrivals of shindachi and shredded material has usually maintained between 15% and 20% of the total by adding the two grades, but this week it has increased significantly to 45%.

About 47% of Hyundai Steel's imports are mainly influenced by shindachi and shredded.

Most of the orders currently arriving are from early to mid-May, when contracts for scrap imports from Japan, which plummeted after Hyundai Steel's low-priced bids, increased. Even at that time, steelmakers presented the reason for the import contract to secure supplies to prepare for supply disruptions after June.

Note: This article has been published in accordance with an article exchange agreement between SteelDaily and SteelMint.