South Korea: Scrap imports fall 18% m-o-m in Sept on lower sourcing from Japan

South Korea recorded ferrous scrap import volumes at 0.41 million tonnes (mn t) in Sept'21, down by 18% m-o-m against 0.5 mn t in Aug'21, as per data maintained with SteelMint. Import volumes declined due to discrepancies in bids and offers which slowed down market activities.

Japan continued to be the largest supplier to South Korea at 0.24 mn t, followed by the US and Russia at 0.13 mn t and 0.03 mn t respectively.

On a y-o-y basis, South Korea's ferrous scrap imports increased 37% from 0.3 mn t in Sept'20.

Market Overview

• Imports from Japan fall: South Korea imported 0.24 mn t of Japanese bulk scrap in Sept'21, a decrease of 35% as against 0.37 mn t in the previous month. Demand for imported scrap from the Korean mills decreased owing to high availability of domestic scrap inventory. On the other hand, Japanese mills were busy trading in the domestic market which froze their exports.
  
  
• Imports from the US shoot up: The country's scrap import volumes from the US saw a massive increase of around 200% to 0.13 mn t in Sept'21 as against 0.04 mn t in Aug'21. South Korean mills actively procured US-origin material due to disparity in bids-offers for Japanese scrap.
  
  
• Imports from Russia drop sharply: Russian scrap imports into South Korea decreased by 63% to 0.03 mn t in Sept'21 from 0.08 mn t in Aug'21. Russian volumes delivered in September declined after the Russian government officially announced hike in the export duty of ferrous scrap which made Korean buyers take a step back.
  
  
• Import prices rise sharply in latest bookings: South Korea's imported scrap prices saw a sharp increase in the recent bookings following the global trend. South Korean steelmaker Dongkuk Steel recently booked 27,000 t of Russian A3 scrap cargo, as per SteelDaily reports. The deal has been finalised at $534/t on CFR basis. Prices are up sharply by $51/t against the previous deal concluded on 30 Sept'21.
  
  
• Hyundai Steel's bids for Japanese ferrous scrap rose sharply: Bids went up by JPY 5,500/t ($48) for premium Shindachi bara scrap and JPY 8,500 ($75) for H2 grade scrap compared to the last bid placed on 13 Sept'21. Bids rose in line with a hike in export offers by Japanese suppliers following a surge in Kanto tender bids.