Import scrap prices rise further in China, outlook bullish

Offers for import scrap from Japan have been increasing visibly since early last week amid overall better sentiment in Japan and other Asian countries and persisting demand for scrap from Chinese buyers. More exporters have been willing to sell to China, with some sales from non-traditional countries being rumored.

Japanese scrap exporters have increased prices amid the bullish sentiments in the market. Sources said that the latest offers for ex-Japan HS scrap were at $450/mt CFR China, up by $10/mt compared to late last week. Moreover, the offers are visibly up compared to the latest deal heard at $430/mt early last week, while this level has been assessed as too low for the current market.

Some new suppliers have been seen in China’s import market. For instance, two deals for 3,000 mt each of HS scrap from South Korea have been reported at $460-465/mt CFR. Most market sources assess these deals mainly as exceptions as South Korea is an importing market and these could be connected with “low demand there, hardly to be a trend,” a trader said. Also, a number of offers have been heard from Singapore and Hong Kong, though no transactions have been heard so far. Sellers from the US are likely to come back with higher offers to China after the holiday.

Average domestic HMS scrap prices in China are at RMB 3,130/mt ($486/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 7/mt ($1.1/mt) compared to February 3, according to SteelOrbis’ information.

Average scrap prices in China’s main markets are presented in the following table.

Early this week, most market participants have already been off for the Chinese New Year holiday. Meanwhile, inventory of scrap in the local market has risen and will continue to increase. However, ferrous metal futures prices in China have moved up, exerting a positive impact on steel prices, which is a signal for higher scrap prices after the holiday.

$1 = RMB 6.4391