Within the past week, local scrap prices in China have continued to fluctuate within a limited range. Chinese steelmakers have voiced their scrap purchase price ideas, focusing on the availability of inventories above all. However, in general, scrap trading in China has remained constrained by the production curbs implemented as of September 8. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, restrictions had been already announced in the provinces of Hebei, Jiangsu and Guangxi. Meanwhile, buying activity in the import segment has remained at a standstill, with the gap between offers and bids having widened within the past week. Specifically, offers of ex-Japan HS scrap have risen to $580/mt CFR and above versus $565-570/mt CFR voiced previously, while bids have still hardly exceeded $520-530/mt CFR. “Any import scrap offers, no matter whether from Japan, Russia or South Korea, remain far from bids. Hence, there is even no point in starting negotiations with suppliers,” a major Chinese trader commented with regard to the current developments.
On balance, as of now average domestic HMS scrap prices in China are at RMB 3,772/mt ($584.8/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 10/mt compared to September 8, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
Average scrap prices in China’s main markets are presented in the following table.
|
Product name |
Specification |
Origin |
Price |
Price |
Weekly change |
Weekly change |
|
HMS |
> 6 mm |
Tianjin |
3,900 |
604.7 |
60 |
9.6 |
|
Liupanshui,Guizhou |
3,620 |
561.2 |
-120 |
-18.3 |
||
|
Nanchang,Jiangxi |
3,800 |
589.1 |
-20 |
-2.8 |
||
|
Handan,Hebei |
3,920 |
607.8 |
0 |
0.3 |
||
|
Anyang,Henan |
3,800 |
589.1 |
0 |
0.3 |
||
|
Zhangjiagang,Jiangsu |
3,750 |
581.4 |
-50 |
-7.5 |
||
|
Jinan,Shandong |
3,615 |
560.5 |
60 |
9.6 |
||
|
Average |
3,772 |
584.8 |
-10 |
-1.3 |
According to market sources, next week some rise in local scrap prices in China is not excluded, as Chinese steelmakers may build up scrap stocks amid the approach of the Mid-Autumn Day and National Day holidays.
$1 = RMB 6.4492