Japan Steel Scrap Composite Price Rises Further

Japan Steel Scrap Composite Price increased further in third week of January. The price increased by 1,500 yen to 19,400 yen per tonne for H2 grade and by 1,200 yen to 22,300 yen for new cutting grade from previous week. The price represented US$ 212.56 per tonne for H2 and US$ 252 for new cutting grade at 91.27 yen per US dollar of telegraphic transfer selling rate, which increased by US$ 16.43 and US$ 13.15 respectively. The price increased when local steel makers increased the scrap purchase price to encourage the scrap shipment.

The scrap dealers’ scrap purchase price is 21,500 yen per tonne for H2 grade around Tokyo. The local electric furnace steel makers pay 27,500-29,000 yen for H2 grade scrap as of Monday. The makers keep the purchase price level recently while some of them increased the price in mid-January. Most of the scrap dealers also keep the price level for a week while the dealers’ scrap inventory is still low level under low level scrap generation.

The scrap dealers’ purchase price is 16,800 yen per tonne for H2 grade around Nagoya while the local steel makers’ purchase price is 26,500-27,500 yen for H2 grade. The market interests try to wait Tokyo Steel Manufacturing’ scrap price move and scrap export tender result. The local steel makers’ scrap arrival is less than the consumption while the export transaction is slower than before.

The dealers’ scrap purchase price is around 20,000 yen per tonne for H2 around Osaka. Many of the local electric furnace steel makers increased the scrap purchase price last week. They try to encourage to the dealers’ shipment under tight supply. A yard dealer said the scrap securing competition gets severer and their profitability gets narrower. The tight supply is partly due to South Korean purchase in Osaka area while the local dealers try to secure scrap for higher export shipping for East Asia.