"Like many predicted last week, it was easy to hit $500 per tonne c.f.r. It is still freezing in the U.S. and Europe and this week it is flooding in Australia. All this caused scrap prices to go up," a mill official in Malaysia told AMM sister publication Metal Bulletin.
Traders and mills resumed buying this week, pushing booking prices to $450 to $490 per tonne c.f.r., an eight-month high, from $410 to $420 before Christmas. "The mills have deliberated over the high prices and come to the conclusion that they seem to be here to stay. We have no choice and have started booking again," a mill official in Indonesia said.
Prices are highest in Malaysia and Vietnam, where buyers snapped up offers at $480 to $490 per tonne c.f.r. "Demand in Vietnam is actually not very high, but some mills prefer to buy now before prices go up again," a mill official in Vietnam said.
In the breakbulk market, offers have remained at $520 per tonne c.f.r. this week, with no bookings confirmed. "Stocks at the big mills (that buy scrap in bulk) are still okay. I think the mills are trying to postpone their purchases until after the Chinese New Year. They do not want to stock scrap throughout the holiday," a trader in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, said.
The Chinese New Year starts Feb. 3. Sources expect scrap prices to remain at the current level or rise further in the runup to the Chinese New Year holiday. "Iron ore prices have gone up, and all the supply problems mean prices can still go up. Scrap prices will stabilize only (as late as) in April," said Ng Sem Guan, a steel analyst at OSK Research Sdn Bhd in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
No comments:
Post a Comment