JAPANESE DOMESTIC SCRAP PRICES DWINDLED IN MAY

摘要

Domestic scrap prices in Japan fell sharply in May after having remained firm since the start of the year. As the chart shows, prices had kept rising since October last year with support from a pick-up in demand for long steel products in particular and the spike in bulk raw material prices, which made scrap increasingly competitive. However, in thefirstweekof May, prices for HMS 2 (Tokyo del.)fell by 12%to ￥22,250/t,which was the biggest weekly drop in over a year. Export prices at the time remained stable, so the pressure on local prices, both in Tokyo and Osaka, appeared to have come only from domestic factors.