Certain gains in ferrous metal futures prices and subsequently in spot prices in China this week have positively affected sentiments in the Chinese steel market, providing significant support for scrap prices among other issues. Although positive changes have not been experienced widely, some Chinese steelmakers have been encouraged to increase their purchase prices for scrap.
On balance, average domestic HMS scrap prices in China are at RMB 3,076/mt ($481.4/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 32/mt compared to November 17, 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 |
3,160 |
494.3 |
+140 |
+21.8 |
Liupanshui, Guizhou |
3,050 |
477.1 |
-60 |
-9.5 |
||
Nanchang, Jiangxi |
3,050 |
477.1 |
-230 |
-36.1 |
||
Handan, Hebei |
3,060 |
478.6 |
+60 |
+9.3 |
||
Anyang, Henan |
3,110 |
486.5 |
-80 |
-12.6 |
||
Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu |
3,085 |
482.6 |
-105 |
-16.5 |
||
Jinan, Shandong |
3,020 |
472.4 |
+50 |
+7.7 |
||
Average |
3,076 |
481.2 |
-32 |
-5.1 |
Notwithstanding that bids for import scrap from Chinese customers have risen by around $10-15/mt within the past week to $430/mt CFR, import activity in China is hardly expected to rebound soon. A considerable gap between local prices in China and prices in other regions is still seriously hampering any import activity in China. In particular, following the latest transactions for HS scrap in Japan, Japanese suppliers are unlikely to export below at $500/mt CFR.
$1 = RMB 6.3903