South Korean Steel Makers Stop Japanese Scrap Purchasing

South Korean major steel makers stopped new purchase contracts of Japanese ferrous scrap due to the price upsurge. They are expected to restart purchasing after Japanese long holidays in early May while to consume US and Russian scrap by then.South Korean electric furnaces import ferrous scrap at above 6 million tonnes every year to stabilize domestic ferrous scrap price. Recently their purchase price for Japanese ferrous scrap was increasing to over 60,000 yen per tonne. They switched to buy scrap from USA and Russia due to lower price than Japanese.Hyundai Steel, South Korean largest electric furnace steel maker, purchases US ferrous scrap at 185,000 tonnes along May orders. Dongkuk Steel and Seahbe Steel purchase scrap at total 30,000 tonnes. The 3 companies will purchase scrap at total 165,000 tonnes along June orders. They will purchase scrap from Russia and domestic market for supplement.However, they are likely to restart purchasing Japanese ferrous scrap in May to loose supply and demand balance in domestic ferrous scrap market. Meanwhile, they are unwilling to make Japanese ferrous scrap price higher by their procurement. They are waiting and seeing an opportunity to purchase Japanese ferrous scrap after Japanese long holidays in early May.