Since fully reopening the door to steel scrap imports on January 1, China’s steel scrap imports soared to 55,389 tonnes over January-March, way above 3,366 tonnes for the first quarter of 2020 and more than doubled from around 27,000 tonnes for whole 2020.

The dominant majority was imported in March, which accounted for 45,564 tonnes, the CACC data showed, and the significant increase in China’s Q1 scrap imports was within market expectations, as many Chinese steel mills and scrap traders have been actively exploiting import channels or establishing business relationships with overseas suppliers, market sources shared.

In the coming months, China’s scrap imports may increase further, as Beijing would like to increase steel output by electric arc furnaces to over 15% of the country’s total or 20% at the best, and scrap use in steelmaking to 30%, both by 2025, and imported scrap will assist the domestic steel mills in achieving such targets.