The price of imported scrap has risen recently. Both US scrap quotation and steel mills’ purchasing prices rose, with limited transactions. Japanese scrap was stimulated by the increase in Kanto bid prices. The difference between Japanese 50:50 scrap bulk offers and steel mills' intended prices was too large, making transactions difficult.

As scrap prices continued to rise, Taiwan's electric arc furnace (EAF) plants chose to replace scrap with steel billets to reduce costs. Currently, the price of imported steel billets is more competitive than scrap. Replacing scrap with steel billets can save US$20 to US$30, making it an ideal operating way for steel mills.