Slow down in buying activities on account of Chinese new year holidays in mid of the February and high global scrap prices in Jan-Feb months have resulted in third consecutive fall in its China’s monthly ferrous scrap exports in Feb’18 while scrap imports rise by 88% in Feb’18.
China – world’s largest steel producer has registered third consecutive fall in its monthly ferrous scrap exports in Feb’18. China’s scrap exports fell by 33% M-o-M in Feb’18.
According to recently released customs data, the country exported 51,240 MT ferrous scrap in Feb’18 compared to 76,920 MT ferrous scrap exports in Jan’18.
Domestic scrap purchase prices in major eastern provinces in China increased by upto RMB 42-45/MT M-o-M in Feb’17. The average price for Feb’18 month remained at RMB 2,408/MT as against RMB 2365/MT in Jan’18. Prices in Jiangsu ,Shandong and Tianjin assessed stable M-o-M at RMB 2400/MT,RMB 2240/MT and RMB 2540/MT for HMS (6mm-10mm) and increased for Guandong province by RMB 120/MT to RMB 2520/MT till the end of Feb’18.
The increased domestic usage of ferrous scrap at integrated producers has filled the gap between crude steel and BF iron output, which had widened to as much as 121 million tonnes in 2017 from almost 89 million tonnes in 2016. This could have resulted in the drop in scrap export volumes from China since last three months. According to CAMU, China scrap consumption touched 148 MnT in 2017.
Vietnam remained largest importer of Chinese ferrous scrap in Feb’18 –
Vietnam stood as the largest destination for Chinese ferrous scrap in Feb’18. Vietnam imported 28,416 MT comprising 55% share in total Chinese ferrous scrap exports in Feb’18. Vietnam witnessed 24% fall in scrap imports in Feb’18 as against 37,468 MT imports in Jan’18. Followed by other South-East Asian countries like Indonesia (19,102 MT, +15% M-o-M) and Malaysia (1,279 MT, -72% M-o-M) followed by other major importers like India (722 MT, -77% M-o-M) and Thailand (884 MT, -78% M-o-M).
During Jan-Feb’18, China’s ferrous scrap exports summed up to 128,160 MT which have skyrocketed compared with the negligible ferrous scrap exports during same time in CY17. Vietnam imported 65,884 MT occupying highest 51% of total scrap exports from China, followed by Indonesia (29%), Malaysia (5%), Thailand (4%), India (3%), and Taiwan respectively.
Country-wise China ferrous scrap exports –
| Country | Feb’18 | Jan’18 | M-o-M % Change | Jan-Feb’18 | 2017 |
| Vietnam | 28,416 | 37,468 | -24.16% | 65,884 | 317,839 |
| Indonesia | 19,102 | 16,601 | 15.07% | 35,703 | 690,403 |
| Malaysia | 1,279 | 4,517 | -71.68% | 5,796 | 175,714 |
| Thailand | 884 | 4,012 | -77.97% | 4,896 | 318,105 |
| India | 722 | 3,115 | -76.82% | 3,837 | 144,811 |
| Taiwan | 536 | 29 | 1748.28% | 565 | 272,818 |
| Others | 301 | 11,178 | -97.31% | 11,479 | 307,335 |
| Total | 51,240 | 76,920 | -33.39% | 128,160 | 2,227,025 |
Quantity in MT,
Source: SteelMint Stats & Customs Data
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