Local Chinese scrap market sees some improvement in activity

During the week ending December 23, local steel scrap prices in the Chinese market have seen an overall downward movement, while transaction activity in the domestic scrap market has been better than previous week though it is still on the quiet side. Average scrap prices in the local Chinese market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
 
During the given week, the soft trend of prices in the steel market and especially the sharp declines seen in semi-finished steel prices have exerted a negative impact on the domestic scrap market. The decreases seen in scrap prices have stimulated transaction activity to some degree. However, activity is still generally on the slack side and so traders mostly want to keep their inventories at low levels in order to avoid risks. Meanwhile, some scrap traders are experiencing tight liquidity, which also negatively influences activity in the scrap market. It is expected that scrap prices in the Chinese domestic market will continue their downtrend in the coming week.