Rebounding ferrous scrap prices in Asia have caused Taiwanese importers of containerized ferrous scrap to source material even with the start of the Lunar New Year holiday period in the territory.
There remained a dearth of interest for imported ferrous scrap in key buyer market Vietnam due to the sharp price downtrend in the week to Friday January 22, market sources told Fastmarkets.
Ferrous scrap buyers started withdrawing from the spot market in key importing country Vietnam during the week to Friday January 15 due to growing sentiment of a downward price trend, market sources told Fastmarkets.
Offers for Japanese H2 were at $460 per tonne cfr southern Vietnam and $465 per tonne northern Vietnam compared with bids at $450-455 per tonne cfr Vietnam.
But buyers remained wary amid expectations of more price declines.
“Given the current price trend, it is much better to wait and see,” a buyer source in Vietnam told Fastmarkets.
Bids for bulk Japanese H1&H2 (50:50) were at $460-465 per tonne cfr Vietnam and offers were at $470 per tonne cfr Vietnam before the Kanto Tetsugen auction results.
China's looming presence as a new buyer in the Asian seaborne scrap market has sparked concerns of tight supply in the region, including in Taiwan, sources told Fastmarkets this week.
The new coronavirus strain found in the United Kingdom has raised fears of scrap supply shortages that could feed the runaway prices in Asia, market sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday December 24.