Robust demand for steel scrap in the Japanese domestic market is supporting Japanese export prices, creating a wide bid-offer gap and making it very tough for Chinese buyers to clinch any deals, sources told Fastmarkets.

Steel scrap buyers in Vietnam sought out deep-sea bulk cargoes from the United States and Australia in the week to Friday June 25 amid high offers for Japanese material, sources told Fastmarkets.

While copper and tin prices are showing some hesitancy on the London Metal Exchange, most of the other base metals are looking robust this morning, Friday June 25, and all the base metals in Shanghai are upbeat too.

The likely introduction of an export tax on Russian semi-finished steel products could cause tight supplies and a jump in prices for steel billet in Asia over the second half of 2021, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 25.

Consolidation has set in across the base metals on the London Metal Exchange this morning, Thursday June 24, while in Shanghai, moves were mixed in response to the combination of yesterday’s strength and this morning’s weakness on the LME.

Rebounds were under way in the base metals in London and Shanghai this morning, Wednesday June 23, but we will have to wait to see how the metals react to today’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) data.

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China returned to the market for Australian wheat for August-September shipment dates, despite the ongoing geopolitical

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Global scrap prices in the key markets diverged in the week to Friday June 18, with those in Asia moving upward, while Turkish scrap prices fell amid slow buying driven by uncertainty over finished steel sales.