Shagang Steel in Jiangsu region of eastern China has rolled over its late April (April 21-31) shipment prices for finished steel and announced a second successive price hike for ferrous scrap this week
For late April (21-31) deliveries, its HRB400 rebar (16-25mm) is priced at RMB3,700/mt ($523/mt) ex-works, while HPB300 wire rod (6.5mm) remained at RMB3,760/mt ex-works ($531/mt) inclusive of 13pc local VAT.
Tight supply
Shagang Steel hiked ferrous scrap prices by $7/mt on tight supply. The steelmaker announced a price hike for its ferrous scrap purchase by CNY50/mt ($7/mt) effective April 22, confirmed a Davis Index source. This was the second successive hike in the last three days.
The steelmaker increased its HMS scrap purchase prices by CNY50/mt ($7/mt) to CNY2,330/mt for HMS (6-10mm thickness); CNY2,370/mt (10-20mm thickness) and CNY2,410/mt (thickness not less than 20mm) inclusive of 13pc VAT.
Domestic market uncertain
Chinese domestic steel market remains uncertain, although consumption rates have increased. Billet prices in the domestic market increased by RMB20/mt to RMB3,090/mt ex-Tangshan on April 23. Steel futures increased by RMB40-50/mt on Thursday although sentiments turned uncertain after the release of data for steel inventory.
Around 4-5mn mt of steel imports shipments are scheduled for the April-June period. This has put pressure on new steel prices. In the export market, a few Chinese mills were offering HRC in the range of $430/mt fob China, still higher than other competitor like Russia, India and Vietnam. In the last two weeks, there has been an increased number of billet shipments ex-Malaysia and ex-India to buyers in China and Manila at $375-385/mt cfr.