In the past week, the Chinese scrap market has generally moved on a stable trend, though with slight upticks in some areas. Scrap traders are active in replenishing their inventories, but are hindered by low availability. The scrap purchase volumes of steel mills are at normal levels.
On March 21, the average mainstream transaction price for heavy melting scrap (HMS) in China stands at RMB 3,392/mt ($536/mt), unchanged week on week.
Improvements in finished steel product prices have boosted confidence levels among steel mills, and so their scrap purchase activity has now recovered to normal levels. However, the steel mills state that their margins are small and so they are not inclined to increase their scrap purchase prices. Against the backdrop of the increases in steel prices, it is thought that Chinese scrap prices may strengthen in the coming period.