Offers for ferrous scrap in Asia have fallen close to cost levels this week, resulting in anticipation for upward price movements emerging among some segments of the market.
"Current offer prices are close to scrapyards' operating costs and I'll be surprised if they can lower their offers further," a ferrous scrap trader in Singapore said.Buyers in Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan are replenishing their inventories amid the low prices that some consider a trough for the market.VietnamFastmarkets' price assessment for bulk shipments of steel scrap HMS1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam was $245-250 per tonne cfr on Friday October 4, down $5-10 per tonne from a week earlier.HMS from the United States' West Coast continued to compete with Japanese H2 scrap, although the latter is now more economical for buyers.Bulk cargoes of US HMS1&2 (80:20) were offered at $250-253 per tonne cfr Vietnam this week, down about $10-13 per tonne from last week.Bulk cargoes of US HMS1&2 (75:25) were offered at $248 per tonne cfr Vietnam.Bulk cargoes of Japanese H2 scrap were...