Chinese export prices for commercial-grade hot-rolled coils (HRCs) remained largely steady during the week of March 2-6, as the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East caused most market participants to watch and wait.

Shagang Group (Shagang), the leading electric-arc-furnace (EAF) steel producer headquartered in East China's Jiangsu province, announced on Monday evening that it would raise its steel scrap buying prices by Yuan 50/tonne ($7.2/t) for all grades, effective from Tuesday morning.

China's finished steel exports declined by 8.1% on year to reach 15.59 million tonnes over January-February, according to the latest statistics from the country's General Administration of Customs (GACC) on March 10.

China's blast-furnace (BF) steel mills suffered steeper losses on finished steel sales in February, mainly due to the slight rise in their production costs and the weakness of finished steel prices, according to Mysteel's latest monthly survey.

China imported approximately 210 million tonnes of iron ore during the first two months this year, logging a notable increase of 10% on year, according to the latest statistics released by the country's General Administration of Customs (GACC) on March 10.