Ferrous Scrap Price Drops in Tokyo

Electric furnace steel makers around Tokyo reduce the scrap purchase price last week after the flat price in long time. They reduce the price under summer time maintenance outage and lower export price from Tokyo bay. The makers could keep reducing the price when they keep the output reduction until September. The price leader of Utsunomiya plant of Tokyo Steel Manufacturing reduced the scrap purchase price by 500 yen to 26,500 yen per tonne for H2 grade last week. The plant changed the price for the first time in 4 months and the reduction was first drop in 8 months. Scrap export FAS price is weak under makers’ lower consumption, higher yen rate and lower demand from offshore makers. The exporters cannot get new export order from Tokyo bay. The export price decreased by 785 yen to FAS 25,270 yen per tonne for H2 for September shipment from previous month at export tender held by Kanto Tetsugen last week. The tender price decreased by 1,030 yen during the drops for 3 months in a row. Utsunomiya plant of Tokyo Steel had kept the purchase price since late April when the exporters kept shipping for higher priced order backlog. Other local makers also kept the price at around 26,000 yen per tonne since June.