Ferrous scrap market conditions continue weak on the whole in East Asia and there are signs of a further decline both in the ferrous scrap import market there and in Japan's domestic ferrous scrap market.

For delivery in South Korea, an unconfirmed piece of information circulated last week that a deepsea bulk cargo of ferrous scrap had sold at USD 375 per MT C&F for No1 HMS, down USD 10 from the recent settlement. But the purchase of the cargo faces the denial by South Korea's major steelmakers.

The way market sources see it, though, there is a strong possibility that even ferrous cargoes from the US west coast will sell at around USD 375 per MT C&F East Asia for No1 HMS because prices under negotiation are trending downward in new deals for ferrous scrap exports out of the US east coast to Turkey. Therefore, it looks as if many of market sources believe the deepsea market level of No1 HMS has declined to USD 375 per MT C&F or so for delivery in East Asia.

Japan's domestic ferrous scrap market is under a similar level of a decline in the wake of what pricing leader Tokyo Steel Mfg Co executed twice last week as a purchase price reduction of local ferrous scrap. The price reduction totaled JPY 1,000 per MT or about USD 10.

For imports into Taiwan, no new negotiated deals of containerized ferrous scrap are reported after lunar New Year holidays there. Negotiated prices further slid to USD 342 per MT to USD 343 per MT C&F for a mix of 80% No1 HMS/20% No2 HMS in late January for delivery to electric steelmakers operating in the Kaohsiung area.

Meanwhile, a pig iron cargo from Russia was reported to have sold in January at a low price of USD 408 per MT C&F Taiwan for February shipment. Since then, no new negotiated deals have come to light for pig iron imports into East Asia.