Import prices for heavy scrap (HS) in China moved down on Friday March 19 amid shipping difficulties and a drop in buying demand, sources told Fastmarkets.

Chinese steel scrap buyers have been absent from the import market due to the muted sentiment after some serious environmental inspections at steel mills in Tangshan yesterday, sources said on March 12.

New transactions concluded for containerized steel scrap cargoes sold to Bangladesh fetched lower prices over the past week, sources told Fastmarkets.

Economic and policy experts at aluminium, steel and scrap trade associations are hopeful about demand and policy prospects in 2021, but remain wary about potential problems that could still arise from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Steel scrap prices continued to surge this week due to sustained demand from buyers in all markets, with the exception of India. Downstream steel prices have supported raw material price increases in Asia, with buyers melting scrap to feed demand for billet and long steel products.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have hit another all-time high, driven by supply shortages and strength in domestic ferrous scrap pricing.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States climbed again, surpassing the record high established the previous day, after market participants noted an acute shortage of spot-market material.

The hot-rolled coil price has hit a new high in the United States, moving above $62 per hundredweight.

Pakistan's government has said that Fastmarkets' import index for ferrous scrap will be used for customs valuations of ferrous scrap, according to an official ruling published on February 25.

Spot prices in the key Vietnamese scrap import market rebounded strongly during the week to Friday February 26, even though buyers with inventories were not actively purchasing due to high prices and the narrow scrap-billet spread, according to market sources.