TOKYO: The highest winning bid in Tuesday’s monthly auction for Japanese H2 grade scrap for export via Tokyo Bay by October 15 was Yen 22,500/mt ($180.40/mt) free alongside ship, down Yen 700/mt from the month before, the organizer of the tender said.
The auction received 17 bids for a total 107,000 mt of scrap, with the average being Yen 20,996/mt FAS, organizer the Kanto Tetsugen group of ferrous scrap dealers around Tokyo said. A Kanto Tetsugen official said the month-on-month fall in price was expected as Japanese scrap prices have weakened since the last auction.
The highest bid was placed by Sangyo Shinko, a trader affiliated with Japan’s largest integrated mill Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp, and was for 5,000 mt, a participant in the auction said.
The second highest winning bid was at Yen 22,130/mt FAS for 6,000 mt, the third at Yen 22,050/mt FAS for 5,000 mt and the fourth at Yen 22,030/mt FAS for 10,000 mt. The second and forth bids were placed by Tokyo-based scrap distributor Arae Shokai, and the third also by Sangyo Shinko. Officials from both companies were unavailable for comment Tuesday.
A scrap trader in Tokyo said the winning bids were around the same level that traders were currently paying scrap collectors for H2 material delivered to Tokyo Bay ports for export. “The results didn’t surprise us, they won’t influence the market,” he said.
H2 grade scrap trucked to Tokyo Bay ports is currently fetching Yen 22,000-22,500/mt FAS, down Yen 1,000-1,500/mt from a week ago, sources said.
Japanese mini-mills will continue to operate during Japan’s “Obon” holiday over August 13-15 as holiday power charges are lower, but most will not receive scrap as collectors will be on holiday, sources said.
Japan’s scrap market will be quiet for the rest of the week and price trends next week will hinge on how much scrap the mini-mills consume during the holidays, a second scrap trader said. Japan’s leading mini-mill Tokyo Steel Manufacturing is currently paying Yen 22,000/mt for H2 material delivered to its Utsunomiya steel works north of Tokyo.
