Eastern China’s largest recycled steel buyer Jiangsu Shagang Group has slashed bids for the raw material amid weakening steel prices in the country, just a few days after posting record high domestic prices.
Peaking at record levels for the short period of May 13-15, the company has since May 16 slashed prices for all grades of recycled steel material thrice, totaling a fall of Yuan 230/mt, a company source said May 20
The latest reduction effective May 20 by Yuan 100/mt resulted in a bid price of Yuan 3,960/mt for material of minimum thickness 6 mm delivered to its steelmaking plant in Jiangsu, and including 13% value added tax. This was down from the record Yuan 4,190/mt just days prior. Bids for auto shredded material were cut to Yuan 3,930/mt, down from the peak of Yuan 4,160/mt.
Similar price dumps for recycled steel were seen within the eastern and northern regions of the country, with sources citing ailing steel prices.
For instance, regulatory measures introduced since May 14 led to rebar prices in China’s local markets fall considerably from a week ago, reaching levels of Yuan 5,050/mt in the actively traded Hangzhou market May 20 compared with Yuan 6,030/mt May 11.
Similarly, northern China-based Tangshan’s local billet prices have slumped to levels of Yuan 5,100-5,120/mt ex-stock May 20 from Yuan 5,800/mt May 11. “Recycled steel prices are dropping almost every other day, it went up fast, and now it is coming down fast,” a Shandong mill source said. “I cannot even keep up our own cuts, we’ll have to reassess the prices again once it stabilizes, but for now, we have to monitor the situation of steel first.”
The recent cuts from Shangang came after a series of hikes that begun late-February totaling Yuan 1,000/mt. As such, interest for imported recycled steel material turned lackluster. Traders and mills were citing inability, or unwillingness, for buy side to match up to continued firm indications from Japan, which hovered at and above $565/mt CFR for HRS101 grades.
Disclaimer: this article is from the SBB STEEL MARKET DAILY, the copyright belongs to the original author, and only represents the original author's viewpoint
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