Weekly round-up: Global ferrous scrap prices see mixed trends

• South Korean mills raise bids for Japanese scrap
  
  
• Four bulk cargoes booked by Bangladesh-based mills
  
  
• Imported scrap trade in India improves on rising steel prices
  
  
• Turkey's imported scrap prices range-bound: Turkey's imported scrap market remained less active with prices being range-bound w-o-w. However, a few deals got concluded this week. The Turkish construction industry was lagging behind due to rising inflation and insufficient demand, which, in turn, led to lower demand for imported scrap for Feb'22 shipments.
  
  

SteelMint's assessment of US-origin HMS 1 & 2 (80:20) stood at $470/tonne (t) CFR Turkey, stable w-o-w.

• Japan's scrap export offers continue to move north: Japanese scrap export offers increased further as bids from South Korea- and Taiwan-based mills rose for the second successive week. However, the prominent Japanese buyer Bangladesh preferred buying from the other prospective sources like USA and European Union, owing to price disparities.
  
  

SteelMint's assessment of Japanese scrap export offers stood at JPY 53,000/t FOB ($458/t), up by JPY 1,000/t w-o-w.

• Hyundai Steel hikes bids for Japanese scrap: South Korea's Hyundai Steel raised its bids for Japanese scrap on 27 Jan'22 by JPY 1,000/t ($9/t) for H2 grade and JPY 1,500/t ($13/t) for Shindachi bara compared to the last bid on 20 Jan'22. After revision, bids for H2 scrap stood at JPY 52,000/t ($453/t). Bids for HS scrap remained unchanged at JPY 60,000/t ($523/t) FOB. Increased demand from Vietnam and tight supplies resulted in rise in bids.
  
  

• POSCO raises bids for Japanese scrap by $4/t: POSCO increased bids for Japanese ferrous scrap by JPY 500/t ($4/t) compared to the last bids placed on 21 Jan'22, as per a SteelDaily report. Bids for shredded scrap stood at JPY 62,000/t CFR ($538/t) and for HS material at JPY 64,000/t CFR ($555/t). With the hike in bids by Hyundai Steel, POSCO too increased purchase prices.
  
  
• Tokyo Steel's scrap purchase prices unchanged: Tokyo Steel's scrap purchase prices remained unchanged since the last revision seen in mid-Jan. The company is paying JPY 53,000/t ($466/t) for H2 scrap, delivered to Utsunomiya, while prices for the other plants remained unchanged.
  
  
• Vietnam's imported scrap prices edge up: Imported scrap prices into Vietnam inched up slightly this week despite subdued trade. The market slowed down amidst limited inquiries, owing to the upcoming Tet holidays.
  
  

SteelMint's assessment for bulk Japanese H2 scrap stood at $510-515/t CFR Vietnam, up by $5/t w-o-w.

• Shagang Steel keeps scrap purchase prices unchanged: China's Shagang Steel kept its purchase prices unchanged for yet another week, after raising prices on 7 Jan'21. The steel producer had hiked prices by RMB 100/t ($16/t) for all grades, effective 8 Jan'21. After the revision, prices of HMS (6-10mm) stood at RMB 3,690/t ($582/t) delivered to headquarters, including 13% VAT.
  
  

This week, the steel scrap market in Tangshan remained largely stable. Nine mainstream mills in Hebei rolled out notices for not taking in supplies. Near the year-end, the scrap yards went on holidays one after another, leading to tight supply.

Also, the winter Olympics is nearing and tighter environment control measures have been implemented. Currently, demand and supply in the scrap market is weak. It is expected that the scrap market in Hebei will be stable-to-weak next week.

• Bangladesh mills actively book bulk cargoes: Bangladesh's imported scrap trade in bulk resumed after a few weeks gap. Four cargoes were booked from USA and European Union. Buyers were away from the market earlier in the month, owing to subdued domestic steel sentiments, and were awaiting fresh offers from scrap yards.
  
  

SteelMint's daily assessment for UK-origin shredded scrap in containers was recorded at $573/t CFR Chittagong, down by $2/t on the week.

• Pakistan's imported scrap market muted: The imported scrap market in Pakistan remained quiet for yet another week after mills cut rebar offers sharply on subdued demand amidst bad weather conditions. Following the drop in rebar offers last week, mills turned cautious in raw material purchases, which, in turn, made them less active in imported scrap bookings.
  
  

SteelMint's daily assessment of UK/EU-origin shredded scrap stood at $545/t CFR Port Qasim, down by $3-4/t w-o-w.

• India's imported scrap trade improves: India's imported scrap trade in HMS grade continued to remain active for yet another week supported by price hikes in domestic scrap and semi-finished steel. However, bookings for shredded scrap continued to remain limited on bid-offer disparities and higher prices from the neighbouring countries.
  
  

Fresh offers for UK/EU-origin shredded material in containers stood at $547/t CFR Nhava Sheva, up slightly by $2/t w-o-w.