Vietnamese steel producers report that they still have high levels of inventories, that local scrap flow is on the good side and that “they do not need much imported scrap.” As a result, scrap imports are rare in the country. A Vietnamese trader stated, “Not many transactions and deals are happening for scrap imports or steel product exports.” Meanwhile, a Japanese source commented, “We hear the Vietnamese market is also in a bad situation because of China. Demand from Japanese mills is not good but, since scrap supply is also not good, mills cannot cut their prices.” One major reason for this low scrap generation is the suspension of production by Toyota amid allegations of fraud, market sources say. “They have already restarted operations but not fully yet. When they gain pace in production, the balance of supply and demand may be negatively impacted.” Demand from South Korea is still very low, “causing some shippers to stop purchasing,” according to a source. The South Korean domestic scrap market is once again moving down.
Offers for Japanese H2 grade scrap to Vietnam have been at around $372-375/mt CFR this week. There was a deal done in southern Vietnam this week for Japanese H2 grades at $375/mt CFR. Two weeks ago, price indications were at around $380/mt CFR Vietnam.
Meanwhile, a deal for ex-US containerized HMS I/II 80:20 scrap was signed at $355/mt CFR Vietnam. Market sources report that other deals are still waiting to be concluded.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Japan H2 scrap stands at JPY 49,500-51,500/mt ($328-341/mt) FOB by the end of the week, where the lower end of the range has gained JPY 1,000/mt or remained stable on dollar basis since last week, while the higher end has increased by JPY 400/mt but declined by $4/mt.
$1 = JPY 151.10