According to the figures released by the China Association of Metal Scrap Utilization, in the January to September period of this year, China's total steel scrap consumption amounted to 60.6 million tonne, down 12.3 million tonne or 17.87% YoY. China's total scrap consumption in the given period thus indicated its first decline since 2000.
In particular, in the given period 27.8 million tonne of the scrap consumed was collected by Chinese steelmakers themselves, accounting for 45.8% of total consumption, while 30.1 million tonne was purchased by domestic steelmakers from scrap traders in the local market, constituting 49.7% of the total and down 29.34% YoY. Meanwhile, in the first nine months China imported 3.896 million tonne of scrap, down 18.38% compared to the same period of last year.