Scrap offer prices shoot up in E. Asia, buyers bid lower
Suppliers of scrap continue to hike their offer prices to east Asia despite importers' bid prices trailing below these high levels. Offers of bulk scrap remain limited. Offers of containerised scrap have thinned recently due to increased container freight rates, trading sources tell Steel Business Briefing. This has led to offers of lower-priced containerised scrap from the Middle East, Central America and West Africa drying up. New offers of containerised 80:20 HMS 1&2 from USA are at $400-405/tonne cfr Taiwan and $420-430/t cfr Southeast Asia. Traders report hearing that the highest price that Taiwanese importers paid for 80:20 was around $390. "Those buying now have no choice but to pay these high levels if they need scrap," a regional trader notes. “Finished steel prices are still weak. It is hard for the regional mills to accept these prices,” a trader in Singapore tells SBB. Bulk scrap from USA is being offered at $440-460/t cfr Malaysia/Singapore for 80:20 and at $440-450/t cfr Korea for HMS 1. Bulk scrap offers of mixed 80:20/shredded were at $420-430/t cfr 1-2 weeks ago. “No Korean mill can accept this price level,” a Korean trader says. Korean mills are now more focused on booking Japanese scrap, he adds. "Chinese mills prefer to source local scrap," a Chinese trader says. Chinese importers are only bidding bulk 80:20 at $370-375/t cfr. The prevailing local delivered price for 80:20 HMS including 17% VAT is RMB 2,800-2,900/t ($410-425/t). But local scrap prices are firming due to rising international prices, he tells SBB.
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