During the week ending November 18, local steel scrap prices have continued their downtrend in northern China, with scrap prices remaining stable in other regions of China. Transaction activity in the domestic scrap market has been slack in northern China, while it has been at decent levels in other regions of the country. Average scrap prices in the local Chinese market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
During the given week, demand for scrap in northern China has slowed down amid softer finished steel prices, resulting in slack transaction activity in the region. However, steelmakers in eastern and southern China have kept their purchase prices for scrap stable in order to attract sufficient scrap supplies. Recently, prices of finished steel and semi-finished steel have weakened and iron ore prices have also moved down - all of which has exerted a negative impact on scrap prices. It is expected that scrap prices in the Chinese domestic market will follow a slight downtrend in the coming week.