Ferrous Scrap Price to Hit Bottom Soon in Tokyo, Osaka

Ferrous scrap market price shows sign to rebound around Tokyo. The shipping FAS price from Tokyo bay already rebounded when some of the price are more than the purchase price by local electric furnace steel makers. The local consumption is expected to increase when the makers finish seasonal maintenance outage period. Some of the scrap industry interests expect the local price could rebound as early as next week. Local electric furnaces around Tokyo pay 37,000-38,500 yen per tonne for H2 grade and some pay as high as 40,000 yen. Some makers still limit the scrap acceptance but they will increase the consumption after the outage. Offshore makers returned to Japanese scrap market since late August. Some offshore makers offer higher price than local makers around Tokyo. Japanese trading firm sources said the export price range is FOB 41,000-42,000 yen per tonne for H2. Scrap shipping price from Tokyo bay already rebounded and some prices are more than purchase price by local steel makers around Tokyo. Local steel makers try to keep the steel selling price despite of the wide drop for scrap cost. Some scrap interests expect the makers could increase the price to support the steel market price. Ferrous scrap market price also shows sign to hit bottom around Osaka. Local makers around Osaka pay 40,000-41,000 yen per tonne for H2 grade. The yard dealers have reduced the scrap inventory when the price dropped by more than 30,000 yen but they now try to build the inventory for higher grade scrap with expectation for higher price. Scrap shipping to local makers around Osaka is decreasing recently when the dealers expect higher price. Industry sources said some of the makers already started to increase the price to encourage the scrap shipment.