Steady Japan Exporters’ Ferrous Scrap Purchase Price

Ferrous scrap exporters’ scrap purchase price is flat at 32,500 yen per tonne for H2 grade around Tokyo bay. The price marked 33,000 yen once but the exporters reduced the price by 500-1,000 yen.

The exporters’ price increased in late March to meet the higher demand for the export. The exporters try to increase the purchase volume and local electric furnace steel makers around Tokyo increased the purchase price to match the exporters’ price hike. However, the scrap supply increased to the exporters in seasonal factor. Some exporters stopped the purchase when they secured scrap for order backlog.

The export increased by 18.3% to 421,000 tonnes for South Korea in February from January. The export was 22.1% higher than a year earlier level. The export would keep high level in March. The export price increase would slow due to smaller price gap compared with US scrap but Japanese export price would keep the level when South Korean steel makers still purchase at around FOB 34,000 yen per tonne.