Offer prices for China steel scrap increased sharply on Wednesday April 21 amid bullish sentiment in the key supplier, Japan.
The highest offers heard were at $520-530 per tonne cfr north China, equivalent to $510-520 per tonne cfr east China.
Bid prices were heard at $495-500 per tonne cfr north China, equivalent to $485-490 per tonne cfr east China.
*** Japanese market
Sentiment in the Japanese market has been increasingly bullish due to the higher local intake of heavy scrap in recent weeks, especially with steel mills restocking their inventories ahead of the Japanese Golden Week holiday, April 29-May 5.
“Many scrapyards in Japan are very confident. They want to wait and see [how the market is developing] before offering cargoes again,” a trader in east China told Fastmarkets.
The higher prices were also due to Japan’s continued problems in securing sufficient vessels to export scrap amid stable freight prices.
The bullish sentiment was supported by major Japanese mini-mill Tokyo Steel raising its domestic scrap prices on Wednesday, increasing bids for domestic H2 scrap by ¥۵۰۰-۱,۰۰۰ ($۴٫۶۲-۹٫۲۴) per tonne.
There has also been market chatter about the Chinese port of Tianjin increasing its requirements for releasing cargoes to buyers.
“Tianjin port currently requires companies to be responsible for part of the port charges,” a Chinese mill source told Fastmarkets.
*** Price assessment for steel scrap, heavy recycled steel materials
Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel scrap, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr China, which takes into account prices at ports in eastern China, was $490-500 per tonne on Wednesday, widening upward by $5 per tonne from a day earlier.
“With more imported scrap cargoes clearing customs checks, there has been an increase in the number of trial import cargoes. This has also led to a decrease in the supply of high-quality imported scrap,” a trader source said.
“Domestic scrap supply this week is not as high as in previous weeks, with inventories being released gradually by sellers. So demand for imported scrap persists,” a Chinese mill source said.
Prices in the rest of Asia were mixed, with Taiwan, the key import market for containerized scrap, seeing prices fall amid hasty slashing of offers by traders. Transactions have been concluded at $425-428 per tonne cfr Taiwan by major buyers.
Japanese scrap offers to both Taiwan and Vietnam have remained high due to the bullish sentiment in Japan.
*** Japanese H2 scrap
Japanese H2 scrap has been offered at $470 per tonne cfr Vietnam, while bulk Japanese H1&H2 (50:50) has been offered at $465 per tonne cfr Taiwan.
Buyers were leaning toward United States-origin materials, however, due to their narrow premium over Japanese cargoes.
این مطلب بدون برچسب می باشد.
ثبت دیدگاه