GACC: China's Jan-Apr ferrous scrap imports jump 27% YoY

In April alone, the import volume increased 14.7% on year and surged 34.8% from the previous month to 35,983 tonnes, GACC data showed.

Stainless scrap still contributed the most to the large increase in China's overall ferrous scrap imports last month, Mysteel Global noted. In April, China's total stainless scrap imports swelled 37.4% on month and 61.5% on year to notch 19,430 tonnes, according to GACC.

By supplier, Thailand and Turkiye accounted for the bulk of the increase in China's ferrous scrap imports in April, with the volume from Thailand rising 47.5% on month and soaring 288% on year to 5,212 tonnes, while Turkiye's shipments also leapt 83.4% on month and surged swiftly from last April's low of 47 tonnes to reach 1,344 tonnes.

In contrast, China's ferrous scrap imports from its top scrap supplier Japan fell by a significant 22.3% on year to 13,877 tonnes in April, although the volume increased 15.1% from March, GACC data showed.

The on-year decrease was mainly caused by the slump in Japan's dispatch of other alloy steel scrap such as nickel-moly and high chrome scrap, which slumped by 37.6% from the same month last year to 5,280 tonnes.

In April, Japan's ferrous scrap supply accounted for 38.6% of China's total imports, Mysteel Global noted.

On the other hand, China's imports of common carbon steel scrap still hovered low due to the rising prices of scrap materials in the international market, Mysteel Global learned.

For example, the import price of HS grade scrap from Japan was assessed by Mysteel at $415/tonne by the end of April, which was higher by a substantial $117/t compared with the average transaction price of the 6-8mm common carbon steel scrap in East China's Jiangsu province by the same time, marking the largest price gap for the past four years.

Written by Anthea Shi, shihui@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com