Jiangsu-based Shagang Group, China’s largest private steelmaker, has announced that as of March 2 it has raised its scrap purchase prices by RMB 100/mt (15.5/mt), signaling its bullish view of the future prospects for the market as demand for construction steel will be good in the coming period. Accordingly, Shagang’s heavy scrap purchase price has risen to RMB 3,450/mt ($534/mt).
Shagang Group had raised its scrap purchase prices by RMB 100/mt (15.5/mt) on February 26.
The outlook for the import scrap market in China is also positive. There has been a rumour about a deal for 3,000 mt of ex-South Korea P&S scrap at $495-500/mt CFR, but this has not been finally confirmed by the time of publication. Sources said that the latest offers for ex-South Korean material have been at $510/mt CFR to China early this week.
Market sources said that deal price levels for ex-Japan HS scrap have also gone up - to $490/mt CFR, while the previous contract was reported at $480/mt CFR last week.
As a result, the SteelOrbis reference price for import HS scrap to China has increased by $7.5/mt on average from $485/mt CFR last Friday to $490-495/mt CFR.
$1 = RMB 6.4625