Posted on 19 Oct 2021
China's domestic market for steel scrap rose for the second week over October 8-15, with Mysteel's steel scrap price index edging up by another Yuan 69.4/tonne ($10.8/t) on week to Yuan 3,791.6/t on delivery and including the 13% VAT. Market watchers attributed the slight rise mainly to rather low scrap availability and to firm demand from Chinese steel mills steadily replenishing their thin stocks.
As of October 14, steel scrap stocks at the 61 Chinese blast-furnace (BF) and electric-arc-furnace (EAF) mills monitored by Mysteel eased for the third week by another 30,200 tonnes or 1.2% on week to 2.57 million tonnes, or a one-year low.
The sampled mills’ daily steel scrap consumption remained largely stable at 2,904 tonnes/day on average, or up by a mere 0.8% on week. The data also shows that their existing stocks would be sufficient for 13.4 days of consumption at their present daily consumption rate, or 0.7 day shorter than the previous week.
Nevertheless, during the same survey period over October 8-15, scrap deliveries from traders to these 61 mills remained low at 2,772 t/d, according to Mysteel’s assessment.
“Steel mills have raised their scrap procurement prices, hoping for more deliveries, but it seems that the tightness of scrap supply persists, as the continuing power shortages and electricity rationing in many regions have further affected scrap collection and processing," a Shanghai-based market watcher suggested. "Scrap traders are still focusing on refilling their stocks, expecting prices to increase further,” she told Mysteel Global.
For example, Shagang Group, China’s leading for EAF producer, had led the price uptick among domestic steel producers last week by offering dealers more money. The mill, headquartered in Zhangjiagang, East China’s Jiangsu province, raised its scrap buying prices by Yuan 100/t effective from October 12, as reported.
Source:Mysteel Global
