Major global steel scrap markets have started to level off in recent days following sharp increases in the preceding few weeks.

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.

Import prices for ferrous scrap in Vietnam are still increasing due to a strengthening downstream steel market, though the rate of increase has slowed, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 9.

Tata Steel’s recycling business in India is to offer domestically produced shredded material to the Indian market, adding to its existing offering, the company told Fastmarkets on Wednesday April 7.

Following extensive market engagement, Fastmarkets will change specifications of its daily price assessment for steel billet, import, cfr Southeast Asia from Monday April 12.

A global shortage of steel slab is a key factor in rocketing flat steel prices, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.

Fastmarkets has launched four implied prices based on the weekly published copper concentrates treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) index, with data available from April 2021.

The key containerized ferrous scrap import market of Taiwan continued to witness price gains this week amid tight supply of United States- and Japan-origin materials, sources told Fastmarkets.

Japan's export steel scrap market presented a mixed picture in the week to Thursday April 1, with rising steel prices in Asia colliding with continued difficulties in sourcing vessels at key Japanese ports, sources said.

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices edged up further on Wednesday March 31 on news of a fresh US cargo, market participants told Fastmarkets.