There remained a dearth of interest for imported ferrous scrap in key buyer market Vietnam due to the sharp price downtrend in the week to Friday January 22, market sources told Fastmarkets.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States held steady while buyers continued to struggle in their quest for spot tonnage at the domestic mills.

Buyers have started withdrawing from the spot market in key importer Vietnam in the week to Friday January 15 due to growing sentiment of a price downtrend, market sources told Fastmarkets.

Mills in Bangladesh purchased three bulk cargoes in the last week, with prices easing gently, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.

Sluggish Chinese domestic steel scrap prices mean there has been a large gap between bids and offers for imports of steel scrap this week, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 8.

China's looming presence as a new buyer in the Asian seaborne scrap market has sparked concerns of tight supply in the region, including in Taiwan, sources told Fastmarkets this week.

Confirmed purchasing activity and extraordinarily volatile raw material costs have propelled hot-rolled coil prices in the United States past $54 per hundredweight.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rebounded on Wednesday January 6, but talk of lower deals remained in the market.

Fastmarkets is proposing to launch a weekly import price assessment for steel billet on a cfr China basis.

Fastmarkets is proposing to launch a new daily China ferrous scrap import price assessment to enhance its growing editorial coverage of the Asian market for the steelmaking raw material.