CHINA STEEL SCRAP: Buyers consider higher bids amid renewed purchasing interest

Chinese ferrous scrap buyers are considering higher bids for imported heavy scrap, with steel mills in both east and northeast China looking to purchase more quantities in the coming weeks.

“Buyers in the northeast can bid as high as $485-500 per tonne cfr China,” a trader in China told Fastmarkets.

A buyer source at a south China-based steel mill said he was willing to purchase at $480-500 per tonne cfr China for small quantities of trial cargoes.

Other buyers in east China maintained bids at $470 per tonne cfr, while those in northeast China bid at $480-490 per tonne cfr. There have even been bids heard at $495 per tonne cfr China by traders.

Offers remained at $500-505 per tonne cfr China, with Japanese and South Korean scrapyards unwilling to give discounts.

A Chinese seller with port inventories of HRS101 is also holding firm.

“I expect a positive environment for the rest of April and in May, so I will wait to sell,” he said.

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel scrap, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr China was $475-480 per tonne on Friday April 9, unchanged day on day.

Higher domestic prices have supported the bullish sentiment in the import markets.

Some Chinese steel mills have raised their purchase prices for domestic scrap because of low inventories and a high steel production rate. There remains a few mills that have maintained their purchase prices after seeing the weakening steel price trends over the past few days.

“Domestic scrap prices may rise further next week because mills have strong demand and April is a peak month for steel production,” a trader in eastern China said.

Fastmarkets’ assessment for steel scrap heavy scrap domestic, delivered mill China was at 3,290-3,470 yuan ($502-530) per tonne on April 9, widening upward by 80 yuan per tonne from 3,290-3,390 yuan per tonne a week earlier, due to a mill raising its price by 100 yuan per tonne to 3,470 yuan per tonne on Thursday.

In Asia, the higher April Kanto Tetsugen auction results have supported prices in Asia.

Four 5,000-tonne parcels were sold to traders at an average of ¥43,380 (396.38) per tonne fas, with all of them bound for Vietnamese buyers.

Sellers offered bulk Japanese H2 at $455-460 per tonne cfr Vietnam, refusing to give discounts.

Sellers have also increased offers for bulk Japanese H1&H2 (50:50) cargoes to $460-465 per tonne cfr Taiwan, up from $443-450 per tonne cfr Taiwan in the earlier part of the week.

Taiwanese buyers have secured sufficient containerized heavy melting scrap (HMS) 1&2 (80:20) cargoes at $413-415 per tonne cfr this week.

What to read next
To increase the transparency of our methodology, Fastmarkets clarifies that the quotation period of the MHP nickel payable indicator is the month of delivery, or the month M. Any data points Fastmarkets received otherwise will be normalized to the M month based on the monthly spreads of the prevailing exchange-traded Class-1 nickel reference price, or […]
Despite the current headwinds, strategic partnerships and continued investment in the right areas, coupled with the underlying strong long-term demand fundamentals, will pave the way for success for lithium producers, according to the participants of the executive panel during the Fastmarkets Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference, which took place from June 23-26 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The US and Europe must adopt long-term, consistent policies and should learn lessons from China, according to lithium industry experts speaking at Fastmarkets’ Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference in Las Vegas, US, over June 22-25.
This price is a part of the Fastmarkets scrap package. For more information on our North America Ferrous Scrap methodology and specifications please click here. To get in touch about access to this price assessment, please contact customer.success@fastmarkets.com.
This consultation was done as an adhoc methodology review process, aiming to better reflect the physical market under indexation, considering its reduced liquidity linked to the combination of seasonal demand patterns and the implementation of cross-border import tariffs between the US and China. No feedback was received during the consultation period and therefore Fastmarkets will […]
Here are the key takeaways from market participants on US ferrous scrap metal prices, market confidence, inventory and more from our July survey.