JAPAN STEEL SCRAP: Strong domestic demand pushing up export prices

Rising demand for steel scrap in the Japanese domestic market was inflating export prices for the material, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday November 18.

Export deals for Japanese H2 scrap to South Korea were concluded at ?30,500 ($292) per tonne fob late last week, including one transaction for 40,000 tonnes of material.
Vietnamese buyers purchased H2 at $328 per tonne cfr late last week also, which a Japanese trader source said would be equivalent to ?30,500-31,000 per tonne fob Japan.
Offers for H2 were heard at ?31,500-32,000 per tonne fob Japan over the past week, unchanged from last Wednesday.

Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap H2, export, fob main port Japan, was ?30,500-31,500 per tonne on November 18, narrowing upward by ?1,000 per tonne from ?29,500-31,500 per tonne a week earlier.
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