Imported ferrous scrap offers in Bangladesh surpassed the earlier peak registered in early January rising to an all-time high amid strong global cues. Imported trades have paused amid Eid holidays while demand for domestic scrap has shot up amid tight supply.
COVID-19-related lockdown in Bangladesh will continue till May 16. Participants expect trades to resume next Monday post-Eid celebrations. Global steel prices have maintained an uptrend, however, a few producers are cautious about rising prices and doubtful if they could pass on higher input costs to end-users. Finished steel demand has slowed due to the resurgence of COVID-19 and nearing of monsoon season when construction projects take a back seat.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, settled at $515/mt cfr Chattogram, up $2.5/mt. Suppliers from UK/EU offered containerized shredded at $520-525/mt cfr Chattogram but mills shied away from those levels. The slowing of trades has limited the rise of containerised offers compared to bulk offers. Suppliers are showing interest only in bulk inquiries, also, the availability of empty containers remain tight.
The daily index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America settled at $490/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $3/mt. Most Latin American yards kept their offers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) above $490-495/mt cfr Chattogram on higher freight charges and active domestic demand. Most workers have returned to their hometowns for Eid celebrations resulting in production halts at small and medium scale steel producers.
The gap between India and Bangladesh container freights on the New York to Nhava Sheva and Chattogram port broadened to $28-30/mt. Amid tight scrap supply and container shortages, the daily indexes for US-origin, UK-origin, and Australia-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20), Tuesday, moved to $495.71/mt, $488/mt, and $495/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $4.34/mt, $3/mt, and $3/mt from a day prior, respectively.
Japanese electric arc steel mill Tokyo steel hiked ferrous scrap bids successively for the second day. Bids rose by JPY2,000-3,000/mt. Revised #2 HMS prices delivered Okayama are at JPY48,000/mt and for Utsunomiya works at JPY46,000/mt. For shipbreakers, offers for scrapped vessels jumped above $550/ldt this week, with a tanker of over 10,000ldt heard sold at $540/ldt cnf Chattogram.
In the bulk market, there were no firm offers as most yards were focusing on the Turkish market. On Tuesday, indications for HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $525-530/mt cfr Chattogram for June-July shipments.
Domestic steel prices in Bangladesh are unchanged amid the suspension of trading ahead of the Eid holidays. Domestic ship breaking scrap equivalent to P&S traded above BDT48,500-49,000/mt ex-yards Chattogram.
($1=BDT84.74)