Increasing supplies of H2-grade steel scrap have allowed South Korean buyers to obtain the material at lower prices in the week to Thursday July 22, sources told Fastmarkets.
Summer maintenance rounds at various Japanese steelmakers have reduced consumption of material in that local market, but the tighter supply and strong demand seen in higher grades such as Shindachi busheling have kept prices for these materials well balanced.
In the case of lower grades such as H2, however, good collection volumes have coupled with weak demand from many buyers both overseas and domestic to stall low-grade prices this week.
Fastmarkets' price assessment for
steel scrap H2, export, fob main port Japan, was ?48,000-49,000 ($436-445) per tonne on July 21, unchanged week on week.
Offers for H2 were heard at ?49,000-50,000 per tonne fob, while two deals to South Korea were heard at ?47,500 per tonne fob after the assessment window closed on Wednesday at 6pm Singapore time.
"Almost nobody...