FOCUS: Asian prime scrap sees record premiums amid lower auto output

Traditional relationships between prime steel scrap and lower-grade material in key Asian markets have shattered over recent months, market sources told Fastmarkets in early September 2021.

Busheling scrap - which is known as Shindachi in Japan - is a prime scrap grade generated from offcuts from the making of steel sheet-intensive products such as vehicles and white goods. Reduced output at leading Japanese carmaker Toyota this year has slashed the availability of such material and raised prices for the grade.
Japan is the largest exporter of busheling in Asia so Japanese prices represent the benchmark for the high-grade material across the region.
In 2020, Japan exported 1.68 million tonnes of prime scrap, up by 8.4% year-on-year from 1.55 million tonnes in 2019, according to the Japanese Iron & Steel Recycling Institute (JISRI).
In January-July 2021, Japan exported 687,204 tonnes of prime scrap under HS code 720441000, with South Korea being the largest buyer at 290,301 tonnes, according to Japanese customs statistics.

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