China’s recycled steel raw materials, or ferrous scrap, import volumes in May’21 witnessed a five-fold rise on a year-on-year basis. Scrap import shipments into China rose on strong domestic demand and robust trading after the ban on imports of steel scrap were lifted on 1 Jan’21, SteelMint notes.
The world’s leading steel producer imported 111,400 t of recycled steel raw materials in May, a sharp rise of 57% m-o-m, SteelMint learnt from Chinese customs data published recently.
China’s decision to remove the export tax rebate in May, and to lower tax on imports of several elementary ferrous products such as steel scrap, are intended to pave the way for upcoming steel production curbs, it is believed.
Imports from Japan edge up: Japan accounted for 70% of China’s total scrap imports and remained the top exporter with 79,327 t in May against 51,299 t in Apr. South Korea was the second-largest exporter with 26,877 t followed by Hong Kong that shipped 2,286 t of ferrous scrap to China.
Domestic scrap prices rose further in Apr: Leading EAF steel producer Shagang Steel increased its domestic scrap purchase prices for HMS (6-10 mm) by RMB 3,854/t ($595/t) in Apr, up by 14% from RMB 3,390/t ($524/t) in Mar. The need to secure more supplies along with a surge in Chinese domestic steel prices had resulted in the price rise.
China’s billet imports up 37% in May: Steel billet imports by China increased 37% in May to 1.029 mn t (million tonnes). Indonesia, Vietnam and Iran were the predominant suppliers, according to data maintained with SteelMint. The Chinese government seeks to facilitate imports of semi-finished steel to feed domestic demand as it steps up production control measures with an eye on reducing pollution and emissions.
Outlook
Chinese ferrous scrap imports may slow down in the near-term considering the disparities in bids and offers. However, imports from South Korea may just witness an uptick.
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