China’s steel scrap exports decline 98% YoY in Jan

The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) reported that crude steel output across major mills in China averaged 2.27 million mt per day in the first ten days of April, up 2.88% from late March and up 16.86% from the same period a year ago.

Operating rates at domestic iron ore mines in October rose 0.7 percentage point from September, with operating rates at private mines 0.4 percentage point higher and 1.1 percentage points higher at state-owned mines.

A total of 10,110 mt of copper scrap, 1,110 mt of aluminium scrap and 3,970 mt of steel scrap will be allowed to enter into China under the latest quota, according to a release on July 24 from the China Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Bureau, a unit of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

China’s imports of steel products soared last month as coronavirus containment measures dealt a hefty blow to foreign demand and pulled prices overseas lower. Data published by China’s General Administration of Customs on Tuesday showed that China imported 1.14 million mt of steel products in March, up 26.3% from a year earlier. Total imports in the first three months of 2020 came in at 3.18 million mt, with a year-over-year increase of 9.7%.

SMM data showed that HRC stocks across social warehouses and steelmakers decreased 3.59% in the week ended April 9 to 5.26 million mt, marking a fourth straight week of decline and larger than a 2.2% fall in the previous week.

China’s top steelmaking hub, Tangshan in Hebei province, has issued its air pollution control plan for April, continuing to exempt steelmakers that are graded as A and B on their environmental status,

Supply tightness still dominates the steel scrap market, as the epidemic prevented some scrap processing companies from returning operations

This came after two consecutive months of declines

As of Nov 6, operating rates across EAF steelmakers stood 20 percentage points lower from last year

China exported 197,100 mt of aluminium sheet, plate and strip in Sep