South Korean Steel Makers Continue Active Scrap Import from Japan

South Korean steel makers continue active import ferrous scrap from Japan. The current contract price with Hyundai Steel is around FOB 36,000 yen per tonne for H2 grade, which is 1,000 yen higher than the price in the previous week, according to Japanese trader source. Japanese exporters raised the offer prices since Japanese scrap price was relatively low compared with U.S. ferrous scrap. Daehan Steel contracted Japanese ferrous scrap at around FOB 35,500-36,000 yen last week. Thus Hyundai Steel seemed to approve the price up.

U.S. ferrous scrap export price to South Korea is currently CFR US$ 486 (approximately 40,900 yen) per tonne for No.1 heavy melting scrap. Japanese offer price was temporarily as low as FOB 33,000-34,000 yen. Japanese exporters are recently raising the offer price against South Korean importers to around 36,500-37,500 yen when order backlog shipment advanced and new export negotiations restarted.

Japanese domestic market price hit bottom when Japanese dealers and South Korean steels restarted scrap export negotiations and the contract price surged. Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japanese largest electric furnace steel maker, raised its scrap purchasing price by 1,000 per tonne on April 8. Scrap dealers group’s export tender will be held in Tokyo on April 12. One scrap dealer suggested domestic scrap market price might continue to surge if the export tender price surges.