Large price falls in the Asian ferrous scrap market this week have kept buyers away, with most market sources saying they expect more price falls to come in the near term.
There were bids from South Korea for bulk cargoes, but no transaction were heard to be concluded. Vietnamese buyers did not exhibit interest for US-origin bulk HMS cargoes due to an abundant supply of alternatives from Japan, Europe and Hong Kong. This was exacerbated by an obvious downtrend in prices in key bellwether market Turkey which also caused buyers to hold off on purchases on expectations for cheaper deals later. Vietnam Fastmarkets' price assessment for bulk shipments of steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam was $300-303 per tonne cfr on August 30, down $5-7 per tonne from a week earlier. Some 40,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) and shredded scrap from the US West Coast was offered at a base price of $310 per tonne cfr Vietnam for the HMS portion at the start of the week, before the offer fell to $303 per tonne cfr Vietnam on Thursday...