Prices for bulk cargoes of steel scrap imported to South Korea fell sharply in the week to Friday June 26 amid a decline in Japanese offer prices, sources told Fastmarkets.
High prices for Japanese cargoes had forced Korean mills to procure scrap from Russia and the United States in recent weeks.
One mill purchased 32,000 tonnes of HMS 1 scrap from the US West Coast on June 12 for $282 per tonne cfr South Korea, while transactions for Russia A3 scrap were at $258-270 per tonne cfr over the past two weeks.
But Japanese scrap prices have again become more appealing for South Korean mills after a lack of new bookings forced
Japan's exporters to drop prices.
As a result, Korean mills re-entered the...