In the past week, Chinese domestic scrap prices have generally switched to a stable trend following the upward trend of the previous week, in a context of decreases in both spot market and steel futures prices and increased arrivals of scrap supplies. The current market is defined by a strong wait-and-see atmosphere.
Product name | Specification | Place of origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change ($/mt) |
HMS scrap | > 6 mm | Jiangsu | 3,750 | - | 570 | - |
Shandong | 3,700 | - | 562 | - |
Current mainstream quotations of heavy metal scrap (HMS) in Jiangsu Province are at RMB 3,700-3,750/mt ($562-570/mt), while the purchase prices in this province for cut grade scrap stand at RMB 3,750-3,800/mt ($570-578/mt), unchanged week on week. Scrap prices in Shandong Province are at RMB 3,650-3,700/mt ($555-562/mt), also unchanged week on week. In Hebei Province, mainstream purchase prices from steel mills for heavy scrap are at RMB 3,600-3,700/mt ($546-562), with offers from some mills slightly down RMB 50/mt ($8/mt) week on week, while purchase prices for heavy scrap from steel mills in northeastern China are at RMB 3,650-3,800/mt ($555-585/mt), slightly down RMB 50/mt ($8/mt) week on week at the high end of the price range. Meanwhile, scrap prices in Hubei Province have remained at RMB 3,500/mt ($532/mt), unchanged week on week.
The continuous increase in domestic scrap prices after the Chinese New Year holiday came to an end last week, as steel prices in the domestic spot market and futures market both declined. In addition, traders had increased their sales shipments and so most domestic mills have filled the gaps in their inventories and have plentiful supplies of scrap, especially in eastern China.
Looking at the current situation, scrap prices have followed a stable trend in the domestic steel market in eastern China. Meanwhile, most large-scale domestic steel mills have raised their ex-mill prices for March, and this may provide support for the scrap market. For the time being, the likely trend of the domestic scrap market in the coming period still remains uncertain.
As regards international scrap prices, ex-US shredded scrap is currently offered to China at $480/mt CFR, up by RMB 50/mt ($7.6/mt) as compared to the previous week. On the other hand, quotations of ex-Japan H2 scrap to China are standing at the high level of $480/mt CFR.