Japan Ferrous Scrap Export Tender Price Hits FAS 30,227 yen/t

Japanese ferrous scrap export price hit averaged FAS 30,227 yen per tonne for H2 grade at successful bid for monthly export tender for March shipment held by Kanto Tetsugen on Wednesday, which was 358 yen higher than previous tender. The price is slightly higher than domestic market price. Japanese scrap dealers expect the export price could support the domestic market.

An exporter won the tender at 30,350 yen per tonne to ship 5,000 tonnes scrap while other 2 exporters won the tender at 30,150 yen to ship 5,000 tonnes and 3,000 tonnes scrap each by April 15. The total contract volume was 13,000 tonnes, which was 7,000 tonnes lower than previous tender.

Fourteen exporters out of 16 eligible companies submitted 16 bids with 86,000 tonnes for the tender, which was 41,500 tonnes lower than previous tender. Five bids were more than 30,000 yen per tonne.

Electric furnace steel makers around Tokyo pay 28,500-30,000 yen per tonne for H2 scrap. Some makers reduced the purchase price marginally since late January. Local scrap export price is around FOB 30,500 yen from Tokyo bay, which was 1,000 yen lower than recent peak in mid-January. Lower offshore demand from South Korea and China decreased the domestic price and export price. Japanese exporters are cautious to get new export orders when they still have existing export contracts to ship.