Japan Stainless Scrap Price Levels Off

Japanese stainless scrap market price levels off for SUS304 when Japanese stainless steel makers left purchasing price of stainless scrap unchanged for November procurement while some scrap exporters raised purchasing price. A dealer source points out another factor is low scrap generation in the market.

Stainless scrap export had increased to China since the end of last year. Domestic scrap market price was pushed up by high export price. But export new contracts grew stagnant after July. A large dealer source said South Korean scrap export increased to China due to higher yen exchange rate. Meanwhile, some Japanese scrap exporters have tried to raise the purchasing price by 5,000-10,000 yen per tonne since the end of October.

Nickel price on London Metal Exchange temporarily reached US$ 19,000 per tonne in October and turned down to below US$ 18,000 as of November 3rd. A large dealer source said Japanese stainless makers would keep their output at current level within this year while their operations are unforeseeable in and after January. Chinese and South Korean stainless makers already shifted to output reductions.