US Ferrous Scrap Export Price to Korea Surges

US ferrous scrap export price to South Korea surged to around CFR $ 245 (approximately 24,700 yen) per tonne for no.1 heavy, up by $ 15 from last week. The export price to Turkey is also increasing by $ 12 to around $ 230 per tonne compared with March. Meanwhile, US composite price is decreasing for 2 weeks in a row. A Japanese dealer source is concerned that Japanese scrap export price might be impacted if US export price turns downward.

Japanese H2 export price reached FOB 21,500-22,000 yen per tonne last week, up by 2,000 yen from the beginning of this month. Hyundai Steel of South Korea lowered its offer price for Japanese scrap by 500 yen per tonne this week. Japanese scrap dealers and shippers are unlikely to approve the price cut when ferrous scrap price is surging in South Korean domestic market and Japanese export price to Taiwan stays at as high as FOB 22,000 yen per tonne.

A Japanese dealer source eyes pig iron market condition in East Asia rather than US export price. According to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance, Japanese pig iron export to China expanded to approximately 40,000 tonnes in February though the export to East Asian countries had maintained very slight. Chinese importers seemed to increase pig iron procurement when price gap narrowed between ferrous scrap and pig iron. Chinese importers are recently decreasing offers for Japanese ferrous scrap by wide range.