GACC: China Jan-May ferrous scrap imports tumble by 53% YoY
In May alone, the country's ferrous scrap imports totalled 25,092 tonnes, lower by a sizeable 39.4% on year and down by 4.6% from April, the GACC data showed.
The interest of domestic steelmakers in purchasing foreign scrap materials remained cool during May, chiefly because prices in international markets stayed higher than those in China, and because Chinese steelmakers were loathed to pay more for imported scrap while they struggled with thin profits, Mysteel Global noted.
For instance, as of May 31, the price of HS scrap from Japan, the top exporter of ferrous scrap to China, stood at $388/tonne excluding the 13% VAT, higher by some $35.5/t than the spot transaction price for 6-8mm common carbon steel scrap in East China's Jiangsu on the same day, according to Mysteel's tracking.
Last month, China's ferrous scrap imports from Japan slumped 46.2% on year to reach 74,835 tonnes though the volume was 20.4% higher on month, the GACC statistics showed. Japan-origin scrap accounted for 71.7% of China's total ferrous scrap imports last month.
On the other hand, compared with the same month in previous years, in May China's electric-arc-furnace and blast furnace steelmakers were less enthusiastic about producing steel as demand from end-users showed little growth – even though steel consumption usually stays active in May, Mysteel's other survey showed.
During last month, for example, the capacity utilization rate among the 247 domestic steelmakers under Mysteel's tracking averaged 88.24%, lower by 1.19 percentage points on year.
Under these circumstances, replenishment demand for feed materials including ferrous scrap among steelmakers was weak, so they were even less willing to buy materials from overseas, Mysteel Global noted.
Written by Anthea Shi, shihui@myteel.com
Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com
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