During the week ending April 25, the local steel scrap market in China has continued to follow a downward trend, while transaction activity in the overall market has remained at low levels. Average scrap prices in China’s main markets are presented in the following table.
During the given week, in order to reduce production costs, Chinese steelmakers have cut their purchase prices for scrap, negatively impacting scrap prices in the domestic spot market. Demand has not improved and so transaction activity in the market remains on the sluggish side. However, the downward movement of domestic finished steel prices has lost momentum, while a rebound has been seen in the domestic ferrous metal futures market, providing a certain degree of support for scrap prices in the Chinese market. It is thought that scrap prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely fluctuate slightly in the coming week.
| Product Name | Spec. | Origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly Change (RMB/mt) |
| HMS scrap | > 6 mm | Tianjin | 1,650 | 240 | ↓50 |
| Liupanshui | 1,530 | 222 | 0 | ||
| Zhangjiagang | 1,680 | 244 | ↓20 | ||
| Handan | 1,650 | 240 | ↓50 | ||
| Nanchang | 1,700 | 247 | ↓50 | ||
| Anyang | 1,600 | 233 | ↓50 | ||
| Jinan | 1,750 | 254 | ↓50 | ||
| Average | 1,651 | 240 | ↓38 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.88