Weekly round-up: Global ferrous scrap trade steady w-o-w, offers on rise

Global ferrous scrap prices continued to remain range-bound with Turkish buyers lifting their bids a bit to support trade. Shagang Steel increased buying prices to attract sellers for more deliveries while Hyundai's bid for Japanese scrap fell after three weeks.

South Asia's ferrous scrap market showed improved trade from Pakistan with active buying seen throughout the week. Indian ferrous scrap market remained largely quiet as new vessels arrive while Bangladesh's imported scrap market turned silent before the holidays.

Market highlights-

• Turkish ferrous prices inch up: To ensure a steady flow of supplies to support operations, a few Turkish steel mills raised their bids for imported ferrous scrap. For quick shipments, a few mills increased their bids by $2-3/t. Although, no confirmed deal was heard last week. SteelMint's daily assessment for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the US stood at $390/t CFR Turkey.
  
  
• Bangladesh imported scrap offers firm: There were slight changes in offers of imported scrap into Bangladesh. Due to the absence of major suppliers amid holidays, imported scrap offers were unchanged w-o-w. Major mills chose to remain quiet and carefully monitor the market for a more distinct price direction.
  Beginning in the second week of January, new offers are most likely to be quoted. In the meantime, buyers are searching for material from different sources at competitive prices. Banks have not, however, fully disclosed the LC opening restrictions.
  Containerised scrap offers stable, no bulk offers floated: Containerised offers for UK-origin shredded scrap were at $455-460/t CFR, largely stable w-o-w. Around 3,000 t of Brazilian HMS was booked at $435/t CFR in the previous week. No firm offers were heard for bulk cargoes this week.
  Furthermore, US-origin bulk scrap offers were quoted at $432/t CFR, largely stable w-o-w.
  
  
• Pakistan ferrous scrap market active prior to holidays: The global scrap market turned silent amid the ongoing winter holidays. But Pakistan's scrap buyers remained active throughout the week. However, imported scrap prices remained on the higher side due to the material shortage.
  
  

Offers for UK/Europe-origin shredded scrap in containers stood at $455/t CFR, up by $14/t w-o-w.

Around 12,000 t of containerised shredded scrap of Europe-origin was booked by Pakistani mills last week at a price range of $440-455/t.

• India's ferrous scrap market largely quiet: Indian ferrous scrap market remained largely silent, with a negligible deal from the Middle East. India became the second-largest ferrous scrap importer in 2022. This happened mainly because the bulk cargo which found no takers in the traditional markets, had ready buyers in India, who drove a hard bargain. The Indian market had availability of materials but fewer buyers which kept the domestic market slow too.
  
  

SteelMint's assessment for Europe-origin shredded was recorded at $447-450/t CFR, stable w-o-w.

• Japan's scrap export prices range-bound: Japanese scrap export offers were range-bound this week because market participants were only floating modest buying enquiries.
  
  

SteelMint's assessment for Japanese H2 scrap export prices stood at JPY 49,500-50,000/t ($375-379/t) FOB. Tokyo Steel's prices remained unchanged since the last revision on 14 December.

• South Korea's Hyundai Steel cut bids after three weeks: South Korean steel major Hyundai Steel decreased scrap import prices by JPY 1,000/t($8/t) w-o-w after three weeks. The company's bids for Japanese H2 scrap stood at JPY 49,000/t ($369/t), while HS scrap bids were at JPY 53,000/t ($399/t) on a FOB basis. Prices were JPY 1,000/t lower than its last tender a week earlier. The company cut bids amid rising domestic prices.
  
  
• Vietnam's imported scrap trade slows down: Vietnam's imported scrap prices remained on the higher side. However, trade remained limited on dull demand due to holidays. Trade volumes in the domestic and overseas markets did not improve.
  
  

The assessment for US-origin bulk offers was at $398-400/t CFR, up by $3/t w-o-w.

SteelMint's assessment for Japanese H2 material was at $405/t CFR, up by $15/t w-o-w.

• China's Shagang Steel's scrap prices rebound: Jiangsu Shagang Group lifted scrap prices by RMB 80/t ($11/t) for all grades after last week's cut. Prices were adjusted at RMB 3,120/t ($447/t), including 13% VAT, delivered to headquarters. The company increased prices to attract sellers for more deliveries.