Steel Market Update received the following information from one of our West Coast/Asian scrap sources regarding the international scrap markets as well as the West Coast USA market:
“Turkey is improving a bit based on uptrend on billets/rebar domestically in Turkey. However, their export markets are still weak. Based on this, their scrap purchases are still on needed basis with last deep sea origin cargo about $480/mt CFR shredder basis.
China is stable to slightly down on still weak finished products, their last deep sea purchase is about 489/mt cfr basis on hms.
S.E. Asia for all intents and purposes is weak with slack demand. Containerized purchases in the $450-$460/mt range depending on origin/destination on HMS basis. Some deals on USEC shredder via containers were concluded at $485/mt CFR Malaysia.
Taiwan and Korea is still weak on finished rebar and scrap purchases are still on as needed basis. Japan recent increases (including this week), has some local Asia scrap yards expecting higher prices and thus reducing shipments to the local mills.
West Coast FAS prices generally have been stable but demand/orders from Asia is down. Therefore, some yards are willing to lower their sales prices to secure some orders. SA Recycling harbor prices officially around $380/Gross Ton, but some dealers reporting $400/GT depending on some local area politics/gamesmanship.
Still not expecting any dramatic movements in the scrap area from Asia side until mid/end August as the summer dull season starts ramping down and electricity issues with the EAF furnaces becomes a non-issue.
Since scrap is largely based on perception/psychology, I will say the psychology on scrap is trending slightly negative/stable. I believe those believing higher prices are somewhat in doubt at the moment.”