Daily Steel News - 21 Aug 09

SE Asian billet importers await direction from China
The recent softening of China's steel markets has affected sentiment in Southeast Asia, industry sources tell Steel Business Briefing. While there is little scope for the Chinese to export billet because of the 25% export duty, the massive size of the country's steel market exerts a large influence on the direction of business being done in the wider region, traders say. In Southeast Asia limited offers are prevailing at $500-530/tonne cfr for billet from the CIS and $500-510/t cfr Philippines and $520/t cfr Vietnam for Taiwanese material. Malaysian-origin billet is being offered at $510-520/t fob. Concluded prices in the region were around $500/t cfr last week. "There are not many offers or much bidding from the re-rollers," an Indonesian buyer says. Rebar prices are flat in the country and seem likely to improve only around end-September after the Islamic fasting month, he says. "Sentiment is bad in the region because of fears of a price correction. The flats market is not doing well and domestic prices in China have been falling," a trader in the Philippines warns. Little billet buying is taking place because Vietnamese importers are waiting to see what will happen next to the Chinese market. "The impact of China is not direct because debar prices are still high there. But reduced scrap buying from China may force scrap prices down and this will impact on billet." Vietnamese importers are bidding at under $500/t cfr, SBB hears. Others point out that the region does not have sufficient billet for the approaching months.

Turkish scrap booking continues, prices are increasing
Turkish steel mills kept on booking scrap from international suppliers this week. They bought six deep sea cargoes from the EU and the US, and new offer prices are increasing, market sources tell Steel Business Briefing. Recent bookings include: one HMS 1&2 70:30 and shredded mixed cargo for $317-325/tonne cfr. Two HMS 1&2 70:30 and bonus scrap mixed cargoes sold for $316-326/t cfr. One HMS 1&2 80:20 and shredded mixed cargo was valued at $324-329/t cfr. One HMS 1&2 70:30 cargo went for $313/t cfr and another HMS 1&2 80:20 and shredded mixed cargo for $322-327/t cfr. New offer prices from US and EU suppliers have increased on last week. HMS 1&2 80:20 is currently being offered at $325-330/t cfr, up by $5-10/t. HMS 1&2 70:30 is being offered at $317-320/t cfr (up by $7-10/t) and shredded scrap at $330-332/t cfr with a $5-7/t increase. CIS region prices also increased on last week by $5-10/t and offers are at $320-325/t cfr currently.

Daily Steel News - 20 Aug 09

Malaysia exempts mandatory standards for steel imports
Malaysia has temporarily suspended its new steel import policy that requires importers to obtain a certificate of approval (COA) for consignments. The suspension . from 13 August to 12 October 2009 . is to ease port congestion caused by delays in testing and quality assurance of steel imports (a COA requirement), Ministry of International Trade & Industry (Miti) sources tell Steel Business Briefing. The affected steel products fall under the HS classification chapters 72 and 73 and do not apply to the 57 long steel products that were enforced on 15 November 2008. The new ruling took effect on 1 August. Representatives of the Airfreight Forwarders Association of Malaysia and downstream steel user industries including the automotive, electronics and aerospace sectors have voiced displeasure over the need to obtain the COA before customs clearance. SBB is told a meeting will be held this week among representatives of Miti, Malaysia's certification, inspection and testing body SIRIM QAS, Malaysian Iron & Steel Industry Federation, Construction Industry Development Board and the Malaysian customs to discuss and identify a list of non-critical steel products. Less stringent COA requirements will apply to these, aiming to reduce port congestion when the suspension period is over. Meanwhile, SBB is told that SIRIM QAS will offset all fees and charges already incurred from 1-12 August 2009 and decentralize COA approvals in all SIRIM branches at the major ports of entry of Penang, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. Currently, all approvals are decided at SIRIM, Shah Alam. Provisions within the new policy also include the halving of import duties on flat products to 25% effective 1 August, with a further reduction to 0-10% by 1 January 2018.

Turkish rebar mills finding it hard to recover input costs
Turkish rebar producers are finding it hard to pass on their raw material costs, market sources tell Steel Business Briefing. Slow demand in export markets is pushing export offers lower, and this sluggish demand is expected to continue for a couple of weeks Turkish rebar export offers are reported to be as high as $520-525/tonne (€365-369/t) fob due to increasing scrap and billet import offers, but slack demand has held prices as low as $495-500/t fob for late September shipment. One market player tells SBB he expects the next two weeks to be quiet, but that market circumstances are forecast to change starting from the second week of September. Some sales have been booked to Egypt for shipment early September. The increase in Egypt's local prices is considered positive by the Turkish mills who believe higher import prices might be accepted by the Egyptian market in the coming weeks.

Daily Steel News - 19 Aug 09

Hyundai seen lifting domestic rebar prices in September
Hyundai Steel is considering lifting domestic rebar sales prices from the beginning of September Steel Business Briefing learns from a company source. The increase margin is expected to be around KRW 20-30,000/tonne ($16-24/t) and will take the mini mill's new price for 10mm diameter bar for direct supply to contractors to KRW 750-760,000/t ($596-604/t). Hyundai's current price for base size rebars . changed 1 August . is KRW 731,000/t while its list price remains KRW 761,000/t. The KRW 40,000-50,000/t increase it introduced earlier this month was necessary to help offset higher scrap costs and maintain profits, as SBB reported. "But even with the increase this month, covering the input costs is still difficult because scrap prices are jumping much higher and faster," the Hyundai source says. Last week, Hyundai contracted four cargoes of ferrous scrap from West Coast USA at $358/t cfr for heavy melting scrap (HMS) 1 basis for September-October shipment. This booking price was around $10/t higher than was contracted the previous week by Chinese importers for US scrap and also more than some $20/t higher than similar contracts concluded at the beginning of August, as SBB reported. Meanwhile, an official from the Korea Construction Procurement Part Association describes Hyundai's move as an .absurd gesture'. "Hyundai's intention is to defend its prices against a drop because it worries that the depressed demand during the present low season will see prices decrease," the official says. He doubts that consumers will accept higher prices and that if so, Hyundai may offer discounts again.

SE Asian billet import prices reach $500/t cfr Levels
Offer prices of imported billet have risen to above $500/t cfr, compared to $480-490/t cfr only a week ago. Offers of Taiwanese billet were priced at $505/t cfr to the region during the week ending 14 August, trading sources tell Steel Business Briefing. Suppliers of Russian and Ukrainian billet are aiming at export prices of $510-520/t cfr and whereas offers of Malaysian billet are around $510/t fob. Traders report unconfirmed bookings of Taiwanese-origin material at $500/t cfr to Vietnam and the Philippines. Local traders note that buyers in Vietnam are still lagging behind in their bidding prices, at $480-485/t cfr. Small quantities of Malaysian billet are believed to have been recently booked at $490/t fob, a higher price because of a lower preferential import duty for Malaysian-origin billet. "Billet prices are really on the boil now," a trader in Ho Chi Ming says. He says that local importers "are trying to resist higher prices but they will buckle" because there is demand. Offers of billet are also very limited in the regional import market. "It is a big jump in prices because scrap has gone up," a regional trader tells SBB. But he says that buyers will be exercising caution having been "burnt before and will not book much, only what they need." Domestic rebar prices in many regional markets can cover the prevailing billet import cost, SBB is told.

SBB Special Report: China inks iron ore price deal with FMG
Chinese mills have welcomed the iron ore price settlement struck between Baosteel and China Iron & Steel Association (CISA), and Australia's third-largest miner Fortescue Metals Group, describing it as a fair result for all parties. Fortescue announced on 17 August that it had agreed to sell its Pilbara fines at US$0.94/dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) and lumps at $1/dmtu from 1 July until the end of this year. This represents a decrease of 35% and 50% respectively on 2008 benchmark prices. The deal is around 3% less than the benchmark price Rio Tinto agreed with other Asian mills in May but is still far from the 40-45% that CISA wanted. As part of the deal Chinese mills are committed to take 20m tones from Fortescue during this period. Fortescue spokesman Cameron Morse told Steel Business Briefing that despite producing just 28m t for the 12 months to 30 June, the miner would reach its July-December target of 20m t by the end of this year as planned. "It will certainly be up around that mark," he said. "It's effectively a (Chinese) government guarantee that mills will take that much ore from us at a time when there's little shortage of iron ore in China," he added. A Baosteel official said that as Fortescue has entered into long-term contracts with Chinese mills for most of its production and is unlikely to sell much on the spot market, it is more willing to agree benchmark terms with Chinese mills than are Rio, BHP Billiton and Vale. "CISA is more open to a flexible pricing system, but negotiations with the other three miners will remain tough," the Baosteel official told SBB. A mill official in eastern China said it made sense for CISA to negotiate a lower price with the Perth-based miner as its iron ore Fe grade is lower than the that of the other major miners. He believed the settlement does not make Fortescue more competitive than its rivals. "The current settled prices are just normal," he says. An analyst based in Perth said Fortescue's ore quality was 8% worse than Rio's but the smaller miner had only conceded a 3% price reduction. "Not a bad deal for them I would've thought," he said. A northern China-based mill official pointed out that the settlement is "conditional" on Chinese mills committing to purchase about 20m t of Fortescue's iron ore in the second half of this year. "It shows that CISA has conceded some ground in the negotiations, which may encourage the larger miners to also raise some additional requirements," he said.

Turkish demand for imported scrap remain slow on high prices
Turkish steel mills booked five deep sea scrap cargoes last week, and with the help of Far East buying prices have continued strengthening, Steel Business Briefing learns from market sources. In the latest transactions HMS 1&2 80:20 was sold for $317-318/tonne cfr, shredded scrap was $322/t cfr and HMS 1&2 70:30 $309/t cfr from US and EU suppliers. Current offer prices have increased a bit on last week. HMS 1&2 80:20 is currently being offered at around $320/t (up by $5-10/t), shredded at $325/t cfr (up by $5/t), and HMS 1&2 70:30 at $310-315/t cfr (up $10/t), SBB learns from traders. CIS prices are also standing firm. The latest transaction for A3 grade scrap was $315/t cfr, which shows $5/t increase on the previous week.

Tokyo Steel lifts scrap buying prices by $20
Tokyo Steel Manufacturing is lifting its scrap purchasing prices by a large ¥2,000/tonne ($21/t) for all grades at all works effective from 18 August arrivals. Though exports are a factor, pundits suggest Tokyo Steel is preparing customers to accept higher steel prices in September. Tokyo Steel is offering more for scrap not just because of stronger regional prices but also because other Japanese mini mills are quietly paying higher .behind prices' to secure supplies, a trader tells Steel Business Briefing. Nevertheless, exports are a factor. The winning bid in the Kanto Tetsugen's H2 scrap export auction held on 11 August was over ¥5,000/t higher than the winning bid in the previous month's auction and lifted the price to ¥31,970/t fas. Though only Korea is currently buying Japanese scrap, Korean mini mill Hyundai Steel has been aggressive with Japanese purchases and is now paying ¥31,800/t fob. But Japanese mini mills still have to collect scrap, and with scrap generation low many have been secretly offering higher prices to secure tonnage. Tokyo Steel's new H2 price at its Okayama works becomes ¥33,000/t ($349/t) for seaborne delivery and ¥32,000/t for truck delivery while H2 at Kyushu, Takamatsu and Utsunomiya will fetch ¥31,000/t, ¥31,500/t and ¥32,000/t respectively. It last changed its prices for 6 August arrivals adding ¥500/t . and held them for 10 days over Japan's .Obon' summer holidays. Tokyo Steel will table its domestic list prices for September on 18 August. "This scrap price increase might be Tokyo Steel's tactics to lift their list prices, blaming higher scrap costs," the scrap dealer noted

Daily Steel News - 13 Aug 09

Shagang nudges rebar prices up while spot slides
Eastern China's Shagang has tweaked its rebar prices upwards by RMB 50/tonne ($7/t) for mid-August delivery (11-20 August) and kept wire rod prices unchanged from early August levels. With the price change Shagang announced on 11 August, the new price for 18-25mm HRB335 has been lifted to RMB4,670/t ($683/t) while the price of its 6.5mm wire rod remains at RMB 4,650/t, both including 17% VAT. Just what strategy Shagang is pursuing is a mystery but certainly, it has not helped to stabilize the spot market in this region of China. In Hangzhou, prices of Shagang-sourced 18-25mm HRB335 rebar have slipped to about RMB 4,200-4,250/t, down by as much as RMB 400/t since 5 August. Meanwhile, beginning 10 August Shanghai market prices for 18-25mm HRB335 prices have further declined by about RMB 200/t to RMB 4,090-4,140/t. "No one is buying, even at a price of RMB 4,090/t," a Shanghai trader tells Steel Business Briefing, adding that he had heard some traders had lowered their prices even to RMB 4,050/t. Beijing traders are offering 16-25mm HRB335 rebar in a range of RMB 4,470-4,600/t, also down by about RMB 400/t compared with 6 August. "The market prices are confusing; many small traders have felt pressure of high inventories and want to speed up sales, but buyers would not purchase when the prices are rapidly falling," one says.

European rebar prices moving up slowly, plate weakens
The latest reference prices released by The Steel Index show that European rebar prices have risen since last week, but plate prices are slightly weaker. However, the US plate reference price is just higher. The southern European rebar reference price has increased to €360/tonne ($517/tonne) since last week, and the average delivery lead-time is just shorter at 3.7 weeks. The northern European rebar reference price ex-works also rose, by €9/t, and the average delivery lead-time is more than a week longer than last week at 4.2 weeks. The spreads between TSI's European rebar reference prices and the average LME Mediterranean weekly billet settlement price, which was $385/t last week, show a spread to TSI's southern European rebar price of $132/t, an increase of $19/t from last week. The spread to TSI's northern European rebar price is $82/t, up $10/t on the previous week. The northern European plate ex-mill reference price is slightly lower than last week at €464/t ($666/t), while the average delivery time is just shorter at 6.2 weeks. The southern European plate ex-mill reference price is also lower than last week, but the average delivery lead-time is unchanged at 5.5 weeks. The US plate FOB Midwest mill reference price is $4/short ton higher than last week at $581/short ton ($640/tonne), and the average delivery time is unchanged.

Japanese scrap export prices jump in Kanto auction
The auction for H2 grade scrap for export held by the Kanto Tetsugen group of scrap dealers on 11 August concluded with a winning bid price that was a huge ¥5,010/tone ($51.7/t) higher than the top bids in last month's tender. The highest bid price in Tuesday's auction was ¥31,970/t ($331/t) fas and the second highest was ¥31,910/t fas. Both winners were awarded 5,000 tonnes each. "The very high winning bid price surprised us: we wonder who would buy this expensive scrap," a Tokyo-based scrap dealer tells Steel Business Briefing. Just the day prior to the auction, Korean mini mill Hyundai Steel purchased Japanese scrap at ¥31,500/t ($326/t) fob, equivalent to ¥30,500/fas. Though the tonnage involved is unknown, the belief is Hyundai bought little because it wanted to wait and see the results of the Kanto auction. Unfortunately for Hyundai, the Kanto auction price was much higher and it will have to pay more for Japanese scrap in future, SBB hears. The Japanese mini mills are usually eager to collect scrap before Japan's .Obon' summer holidays in mid-August, and if they have already secured sufficient scrap stocks, they will just wait and see how the scrap market moves, the scrap dealer tells SBB. "But the generation of scrap is very low and the mini mills that do not have stocks in hand might have to lift their buying prices," he adds. By comparison, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing is currently offering ¥30,000/t for H2 delivered at its Utsunomiya works in the northern Kanto.

Daily Steel News - 11 Aug 09

Rebar prices to SE Asia move up, but local resistance
Offer prices for rebar to Southeast Asia have risen due to the continued strength in scrap prices, trading sources tell Steel Business Briefing. But importers in Singapore and Hong Kong are generally unwilling to pay above $500/t cfr because there is little change in demand in their home markets. In fact there are very few offers heard in this regional market, which normally receives supplies from Korea and Taiwan. Taiwanese trading sources tell SBB that the mills there would be aiming to export their rebar at around $500/t fob. Meanwhile offers from Turkey have risen to $525-540/t cfr, compared to just under $500/t cfr in mid-July. "Some suppliers are raising their export prices because they think that China will be a good market for their bar," a Singapore trader says. The Chinese domestic rebar market has moved up strongly recently, "but there could be some price correction soon," he adds. Traders say the domestic price in Singapore is around S$760/t delivered-basis ($530/t), which provides little incentive to import rebar.

Turkish mills turn to Asia for price support
Turkish mills are reported to be sending billet mainly to the Far East as demand is generally low in the Middle East. Transactions are reported to be at around $480-485/tone cfr Asia. Two cargoes of 40,000t of billet are reported to have been shipped to Far East customers, helping to create a "feasible" price level for Turkish mills, market sources tell Steel Business Briefing, but they are not particularly happy about the price level. One producer says that given the high price of scrap imports, they expected to find customers at $450/t fob, but the market could only achieve $435/t fob. Some demand is reported from Saudi Arabia, with 50,000t of billet booked by Saudi mills, SBB learns. Also a cargo for Canada has been booked, a producer tells SBB. The market sees this business as a sign that cost-based price increases are more likely to be accepted by the international markets, and that demand might recover after Ramadan. One trader tells SBB that scrap has been booked by Turkish traders in the expectation that rebar demand would recover after Ramadan, and that prices are not likely to go down from the current level. Turkish rebar offers are at $485-500/t fob, and some mills are reported to have concluded sales for $500/t fob.

Scrap import prices continue to rise as supply tightens
Imported scrap prices to east Asia rose during the week ending 7 August, trading sources tell Steel Business Briefing. Three cargoes of US scrap, for September and October shipment, were booked at a composite price of $350/tonne cfr eastern China. The cargoes were split equally (50:50) with 80:20 heavy melting scrap (HMS) 1/2 and shredded. The Chinese booked an estimated 30,000 tonnes of Japanese origin HS (plate & structural) at $365-370/t cfr during the same week, up from $350/t cfr previously. "Chinese buying may be slowing down," a trader in China tells SBB. New offer prices have risen to $380/t cfr. Suppliers are holding back offers of bulk HMS scrap, market sources in Southeast Asia say. Traders in the region report hearing of a bulk shipment of scrap from Europe to Malaysia at a composite price of $345/t cfr, concluded in the last week of July. This is believed to have comprised 15,000 t of 80:20, 10,000 t of shredded, 5,000 t each of HMS 1 and 5,000 t of P&S. Offers of containerised US scrap to Taiwan are prevailing at $325/t cfr Taiwan and for shredded, $330-335/t. A trader reports there are bookings but SBB is unable to confirm. In Vietnam, shredded-in-container from USA/Europe is being offered at $335-340t/cfr. A local trader, who says that he has a bid at $330/t cfr for this, believes that scrap prices will not soften in the near future. "There is a big shortage. Prices are rising and there is still buying," he tells SBB.

62% iron ore reference price exceeds $100/t: The Steel Index
The latest daily iron ore reference prices released by The Steel Index last Friday (7 August) show that the price for 62% Fe has passed the $100/tonne cfr level. The reference price for 62% Fe content Iron Ore fines finished the week at $104.10/dry metric tonne CFR Tianjin port, China. This was a $8.80/dmt, or 9.2%, increase from a week earlier, and is 28% above the level a month ago. Within these delivered prices, the average weekly freight costs for all three key iron ore routes to China are reported to have slipped. The Steel Index is majority-owned by Steel Business Briefing and specialises in compiling steel and iron ore reference prices based on actual transaction data. Further details of the methodology and specifications for the two grades of iron ore can be found on the website www.thesteelindex.com. Companies wishing to subscribe to the full set of reference prices or apply to submit iron ore or steel price data can do so on the website.

Daily Steel News - 7 Aug 09

Billet offer prices to SE Asia continue to firm
Billet offer prices continue to rise, with offers at $470-480/t cfr Southeast Asia. But bidding prices by most buyers in the region are lagging behind by $10-20/t. Recent transactions were done at $460-465/t cfr, up by around $5/t from end-July, trading sources tell Steel Business Briefing. The appreciating scrap price is the main cause for the uptrend in billet offer prices, traders say. "I think prices will soon reach $470/t cfr," says one in the Philippines. The last booking done was $455/t cfr Philippines in middle of July and he is receiving bids at $460/t cfr now. Offers of Taiwanese material are prevailing at $475/t cfr and of Russian billet at $470-475/t cfr. Transactions were done at $460-465/t cfr Indonesia recently including for Turkish material, SBB is told. Ukrainian-origin billet was booked at $465/t cfr last week but new offers of Ukrainian billet are now at $480/t cfr. An importer says that he has received an offer for Indian material at $465/t cfr Indonesia. In Vietnam, buyers are generally bidding at the maximum of $455-460/t cfr whereas offers for CIS billet are prevailing at $470-480/t cfr, trading sources say. A trader reports CIS billet was last week booked at around $462/t cfr southern Vietnam for September shipment. Malaysian billet was heard booked recently at $485/t cfr Vietnam. Malaysian billet generally fetches a premium price because Asean-origin billet enjoys a preferential import duty and usually a shorter delivery time.

CIS billet export market up $30/tonne

CIS billet export prices
27 Jul 09 3 Aug 09 10 Aug 09* 17 Aug 09* 24 Aug 09* FOB $/t
390 -405 405 – 435 410 – 435 415 – 435 415 – 435 * SBB Forecast

The CIS billet export market is "defying all odds" as producers raise offer prices and buyers are tentatively accepting new higher levels, market sources tell Steel Business Briefing. Rising steadily from around $390-410/tonne fob (€271-285/t) Black Sea last week, and despite earlier expectations of weakening, the price of billet from the CIS is now around $420-435/t fob Black Sea. This includes a concluded deal at $435/t fob Black Sea into North Africa and the Middle East yesterday, sources say. Although the fundamentals of the market have not changed greatly, the majority of sources say that buyers appear to be "more adventurous in their deal-making". With stock market indexes showing modest improvement, government fiscal measures taking effect, and no sign of scrap prices yielding, the perception of the market has changed for the better, one seasoned market observer explains. Speculation is also rife, he adds. It is only the perception that has changed, another market source notes. While Asia and particularly China, are "still strongly out in the market", improvement in long finished products' demand is needed to sustain the current trend. It is clear now that it is a producers' market, although an influx of extra available tonnages could quickly change this situation, another source claims. "We need to see returning demand for, and buying of, long finished products from the big markets - Middle East, Algeria, Egypt and USA," a European producer concludes. He adds, however, that weakening is unlikely right now, in view of continuously rising costs and steadfast demand.

Shanghai merchant bar prices softening
Shanghai merchant bar prices are showing signs of weakening, but market sources do not envisage large price falls in the short-term. Since the beginning of August, merchant bar prices have risen a number of times, by RMB 400/tonnes ($59/t) in total, in the wake of massive price hikes for leading products such as rebar. While some traders are holding their offers at about RMB 4,450/t ($651/t) for 50x50x5mm angles sourced from Maanshan Iron & Steel (Magang), others have clipped prices by RMB 20/t to RMB 4,430/t for the same material. Meanwhile, 16a channels sourced from Magang are priced at about RMB 4,380/t. Steel Business Briefing notes that prices for both products have surged by about RMB 700/t this month compared with those for early July. "Rebar prices have started to decline and have dampened merchant bar market confidence to some extent," a Shanghai trader says. He adds that some traders remain profitable even after the small price cuts. Another local trader tells SBB that merchant bar inventories have not increased greatly, which could prevent a price collapse occurring. Further, the market anticipates that Baosteel will raise its prices for September, which will immediately lift the market again.

Daily Steel News - 4 Aug 09

Shagang stuns market with huge bar/rod price hike
Eastern Chinese steelmaker Shagang astonished the markets with a massive price increase of RMB 600/tone ($88/t) for rebar and RMB 500/t for wire rod for ex-works delivery during 1-10 August. 18-25mm HRB335 rebar and 6.5mm wire rod prices have been adjusted to RMB 4,620/t ($676/t) and RMB 4,650/t respectively, with 17% VAT. Steel Business Briefing notes that Shagang's rebar price has surpassed Hebei Iron & Steel's RMB 4,450/t and Shougang's RMB 4,475/t. Shagang's large price hike stimulated increases of about RMB 300/t in eastern China's main steel markets of Shanghai and Hangzhou on 3 August. Hangzhou prices for Shagang-produced 18-25mm HRB335 rebar have soared to about RMB 4,550/t. Meanwhile, Shanghai traders are offering 18-22mm HRB335 and 16-22mm HRB400 rebar at about RMB 4,440-4,450/t and RMB 4,500/t respectively. "The steel market price is like a balloon out of control and it's likely to fly higher if there's no downwards pressure on it. Growing market inventory could provide the pressure to drag down the balloon," a trader in eastern China says. Rebar futures prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have also continued to rise, with October contract prices closing at RMB 4,857/t on 3 August from 31 July's RMB 4,672/t, up 7%.

Korea's Hyundai lifts prices for rebar and beams
Despite being the season of low demand for long products in Korea, Hyundai Steel has raised its domestic sales prices by KRW 40,000-50,000/tonne ($33-41/t) from 1 August, citing the need to offset higher scrap prices. The increase lifted the price for 10mm diameter bar for direct supply to contractors by KRW 40,000/t to KRW 731,000/t ($594/t), from KRW 691,000/t ($562/t) at the beginning of July. Hyundai's 600x300mm H-beam sales price increased by KRW 50,000/t to KRW 850,000/t ($691/t) from KRW 800,000/t. However, the Korean mill's list prices for rebar and H-beam remain unchanged since 1 June at KRW 761,000/t ($619/t) and KRW 900,000/t respectively. "We decided to lift our prices to help our profitability. However, we will monitor the domestic market to see whether these higher prices will be accepted and adjust them accordingly later," a Hyundai source tells Steel Business Briefing. Korea's domestic scrap prices have been rising gradually from early July, with electric arc furnace (EAF) makers near Busan on the southeast coast now paying KRW 380-390,000/t ($309-317/t) for Shindachi grade from KRW 310-320,000/t a month ago. Decreasing volumes of domestic scrap and higher scrap import prices are the major reasons for the increases. Hyundai booked Japanese H2 grade scrap in its 31 July tender at ¥28,800/t ($303/t) fob from ¥28,000/t fob a week ago, up by ¥800/t ($8.4/t) as SBB reported. Meanwhile, Dongkuk Steel Mill also lifted its domestic prices for long products from 3 August. The new price for 10mm diameter bar is the same as Hyundai's at KRW 731,000/t, up by KRW 40,000/t.

Tokyo Steel lifts scrap purchase prices, again
Tokyo Steel Manufacturing has raised its scrap purchase prices by ¥500-1,000/tonne ($5.27-10.5/t) for all grades at all its works effective 4 August arrivals. The company has hiked its scrap purchase prices four times over a period of ten days and the total price increase is ¥1,000-2,000/t. Tokyo Steel's new H2 price at Okayama works is ¥30,500/t ($321/t) for seaborne delivery and ¥29,500/t for truck delivery. Its price at Kyushu, Takamatsu and Utsunomiya is ¥28,500/t, ¥29,000/t and ¥29,500/t respectively. "The current export price is becoming lower than Japanese domestic purchase prices. However, dealers are collecting
scrap for export because these would be for previously contracted export cargoes. "This means that the mini mills here have to lift their purchase prices to secure scrap," a scrap trader tells Steel Business Briefing. He believes that very low scrap generation, currently 30-40% lower year-on-year, has resulted in a very tight supply situation. Hyundai Steel's purchase price of Japanese H2 grade scrap on 31 July was ¥28,800/t ($303/t) fob, as SBB reported. "Hyundai was aiming to buy about 100,000 t but only could book about 20,000 t, because its bidding price was too low for dealers to make profit," another trader says. He believes that overseas mills will have to raise their purchase price after this week in order to secure sufficient

Scrap offer prices continue rising despite Turks' absence
Turkish steel mills remained away from the global scrap market last week because of higher prices, but Far East mills' buying is still strengthening the global scrap prices and Turkish mills are expected to resume buying soon, market sources tell Steel Business Briefing. Only one deep sea cargo was booked from EU after the previous week's eleven cargoes, and it was sold for $294/tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 70:30.
It is reported that the US and EU suppliers' offer prices continued climbing on Far East mills' strong demand. Current offer prices for HMS 1&2 70:30 are at $298/tone cfr, $8-13/t higher than the last week's offers. HMS 1&2 80:20 prices are at $310/tonne cfr, up by $10-15/tonne, and shredded scrap is at $315/tonne, also up by $10-15/tonne. However CIS prices for A3 grade scrap seem stable at $287/t cfr Istanbul and $292/t cfr Izmir levels. But it is expected to move above $300/tonne cfr very soon, SBB learns.