Japan Steel Scrap Composite Price Drops by 500 yen/t

Japan Steel Scrap Composite Prices decreased by 500 yen per tonne both for H2 and new cutting grades last week. The price decreased for 7 weeks in a row. The dealers’ purchase price was averaged 18,100 yen for H2 and 21,100 yen for new cutting scrap.

The dealers’ purchase price was flat at around 19,500 yen per tonne for H2 grade around Tokyo last week as previous week. Local electric furnace steel makers pay 26,000-27,000 yen for H2 grade scrap. The price kept the level after the decrease. With higher export price for South Korea, the dealers in coastal areas in Tokyo Bay increased the purchase price to 26,000-27,500 yen last week, which is same level as local steel makers’ purchase price.

The scrap dealers’ scrap purchase price was around 18,500 yen per tonne last week around Osaka. The dealers recognize the market price hit bottom when joint export tenders were higher than domestic market price both in Tokyo and Osaka. Local electric furnace steel makers pay 26,500-28,000 yen for H2 grade. A dealer source said the heavy scrap supply would get tighter toward shipping for joint export order while the scrap supply gets slower for the dealers.

The dealers’ scrap purchase price was flat at 16,300 yen per tonne for H2 last week as previous week around Nagoya. Local electric furnace steel makers pay around 27,000 yen for H2 and around 30,000 yen for new cutting scrap. Local scrap generation decreases when local automotive parts makers’ operation gets slow when Thai flood reduces domestic automakers’ production. Local dealers watch appetite from buyers in China and South Korea to find next trend while local scrap demand could decrease for special steel makers due to lower automotive output.