Vietnam: Imported scrap buyers likely to resume bulk bookings from Japan

Although Vietnam's imported scrap market remained silent for yet another week, buyers are looking for the correct market opportunity to book fresh slots at reasonable prices. In fact, the country's buyers are now showing interest in Japanese material after a few bookings were done for deep-sea cargoes, although the scrap offers are still on the higher side.

Interestingly, scrap imports from Japan had jumped by over $50/t in the last month. As a result, mills had delayed their bookings for about a month due to high offers. But the currency depreciation has pulled buyers' attention to Japanese scrap. Currently, the JPY has hit a six-year low and is being traded at 124.6 levels against the dollar.

Consequently, a Vietnamese mill booked Japanese bulk H2 material at $605/t CFR levels early last week. However, currently the offers are at $630/t CFR.

Similarly, other prominent Japanese buyers like South Korea's Hyundai Steel hiked bids for Japanese scrap last weekend by up to JPY 3,500/t ($29/t) compared with the last bid on 17 March, 2022. Bids for H2 grade have risen by JPY 1,500/t and high-grade scrap by JPY 3,500/t. Bids for H2 grade are now at JPY 65,000/t ($534/t), while, for HS grade, bids are at JPY 70,500/t ($582/t) FOB.

Vietnam's billets export offers down: Vietnam's BF-route billets export offers stood at $780/t FOB. However, no deals were heard to be concluded last week.

Overview of other SE Asian markets

• Thailand imported scrap prices up in recent deals: The imported scrap trade continued to happen in limited quantities, while the offers have increased further. HMS 1&2 (70:30) of Central American origin were offered at $535-540/t CFR LCB, moving up $10-15/t w-o-w
  
  

Thailand's ferrous scrap imports remained largely stable on a m-o-m basis at 0.13 mnt in Feb'22, as per customs data maintained with SteelMint. Panama emerged as the top exporter at 0.01 mnt of scrap, followed by Myanmar and Japan. On the other hand, scrap imports increased by 8% y-o-y from 0.12 mnt in Feb'21.

• Imported scrap offers to Indonesia up by $10-15: Fresh offers for the most preferred grade, plates, and structurals (PNS) increased further. PNS from Hong Kong and Singapore is being offered at $605-610/t CFR Jakarta, up a significant 15-20/t w-o-w.