Export prices for scrap from Japan were largely stable over the past week due to the country's upcoming "Golden Week" holiday, sources told Fastmarkets this week.
The holiday runs from April 29 to May 5 this year, with market participants not fully in the spot market during the period.
Key market participants said many Japanese shippers were keeping offers unchanged ahead of the holiday and not engaging in much export negotiation with buyers.
"Prices will likely move again only after the holiday when the Kanto Tetsugen auction closes," a Japanese trader told Fastmarkets.
Market participants harbor positive sentiment for the results of the upcoming May auction by the cooperative of scrap dealers in the Tokyo region amid strong demand for ferrous scrap by operators of both blast furnaces and electric-arc furnaces in Japan.