Posted on 13 Apr 2022
Japanese scrap dealers' co-operative Kanto Tetsugen's monthly export scrap tender extended gains in April despite waning interest from overseas buyers.
The April tender settled at ¥67,010/t ($533/t) fas for 10,000t of H2 grade scrap, equivalent to ¥68,010/t on a fob basis. Only one 10,000t lot was confirmed during the tender, which was the same as the Kanto tender in March. Other failed bids ranged between ¥65,200-66,800/t. The wider range indicated a mixed market outlook, trading participants said.
The tender was ¥3,500/t higher than the previous month and is ¥740/t shy of the all-time high at ¥67,750/t in July 2008.
The rapid depreciation of the yen against the US dollar throughout March-April supported the increased Kanto tender price. The exchange rate fell by 8.5pc from ¥114.84 on 1 March to ¥125.43 on 12 April. Although the tender result in yen rose by ¥3,500/t from a month earlier, the dollar equivalent price fell by $15/t.
"I heard that this cargo is bought by the same trading company as previous months, so they might be taking a long position again," a Japanese trader said. Mill buyers were on the market sidelines from last week after the upside momentum of steel products slowed and some US suppliers cut their offer levels to the Asian market.
Source:Argus Media
