Japan ferrous scrap offer prices rise again but buyers hold firm

Japanese ferrous scrap export transaction prices were unchanged over the week to February 26 despite a rise in offer prices from most sellers, market sources told Fastmarkets.

A rise in container freights - amid a shortage of containers - increased demand for unusual bulk scrap bookings over the week in Asian countries including India and Pakistan, while a similar pattern emerged in Taiwan, with greater interest in Japanese bulk cargoes compared with United States' container shipments at the beginning of the week.
But despite higher Japanese offer prices and protracted discussions between Taiwanese buyers and Japanese exporters during the week, no confirmed deals were heard for H2 (heavy scrap) during the assessment window.

As a result of a lack of concluded business and lower interest, Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap H2 export, fob main port Japan settled at ?24,000-24,500 ($217-222) per tonne fob on...

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