TEX reported that Japan's local ferrous scrap market in the Osaka area further slid to JPY 23,000 to JPY 23,500 per tonne delivered at steelworks as of October 10th 2012 for the benchmark of No 2 HMS prices, with a high of JPY 24,000 per tonne and a low of JPY 22,500 per tonne.

Electric steelmakers operating in Greater Osaka acted ditto in the wake of Tokyo Steel Mfg Co's purchase price reduction of local ferrous scrap by JPY 500 per tonne for all grades from October 6th 2012. Osaka Steel Co, Kishiwada Steel Co, Nippon Steel & Sumikin Shapes Corp (formerly Sumikin Steel & Shapes Inc) and Nakayama Steel Works Limited reduced their purchase prices each by JPY 1,000 per tonne for turnings and by JPY 500 per tonne for other grades.

The Osaka market is likely to continue for still more time, admit many of ferrous scrap distributors. With inadequate arising of local ferrous scrap in the Osaka area, arrivals of material have gradually falling at the works of various electric steelmakers since the beginning of October 2012.

In the Osaka Bay area, there are prospects that a total of 5,900 tonnes of local ferrous scrap will be loaded into two vessels shortly behind schedule for export cargoes from the Osaka based Kansai Tetsugen federation of ferrous scrap dealers. Those cargoes were sold by tender to trading companies. There is a possibility that electric steelmakers will face a further drawdown in arrivals of local ferrous scrap at their works once the ship loading of Kansai Tetsugen's cargoes has started.

Meanwhile, electric steelmakers operating in Greater Osaka are expected to produce a total of 282,000 tonnes of crude steel in October 2012, up 4,000 tonnes or 1.3% from what they actually put out in September 2012. The steelmakers concerned are Osaka Steel Co, Kishiwada Steel Co, Kyoei Steel Limited, Kubota Corporation, Kurimoto Limited, Godo Steel Limited, Shinkansai Steel Corporation, Nippon Steel & Sumikin Shapes Corporation, Nakayama Steel Products Co and Nakayama Steel Works Limited. Their planned purchases of local ferrous scrap in October are set at a total of around 287,000 tonnes, up 7,000 tonnes or 2.4% from the planned total purchases in the month before.

Source - TEX Report Limited

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