Imported containerized ferrous scrap bookings in Bangladesh paused amid a lockdown to control the resurgence of COVID-19. Steel mills hiked finished steel prices on high raw material costs.
Bangladesh is under a week-long lockdown since Monday. It was expected that ahead of Ramadan most infrastructure projects would ramp up activities and traders/retailers would restock material for post-Eid demand. But sentiment turned bearish after the lockdown. Workers are set to travel back to their hometowns for Ramadan and the government could extend the lockdown further.
Japanese small bulk exporters are waiting for the Kanto tender scheduled for Friday, April 9. Offers jumped following high freight rates while bids were short by $15-20/mt than offers. Japanese offers for #2 HMS jumped to $450-455/mt cfr Vietnam and $465-470/mt cfr Chattogram on Thursday.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Thursday, settled at $477.5/mt cfr Chattogram, up $1.25/mt from Wednesday. UK-origin containerized shredded offered at $485-490/mt cfr Chattogram, with buyers at $470-475/mt cfr Chattogram. Very few offers heard from Australian and New Zealand suppliers.
Latin America yards preferred to offer in the domestic market amid non-attractive bids from Bangladeshi mills. Yards held asking prices firm amid vessel space crunch. In the US domestic market, April monthly settlements have reported higher-than-expected prices.
Steel demand is expected to stay bullish, globally, keeping prices elevated. Mills found it difficult to source material at unviable prices. Shipping challenges like high freight charges and unavailability of containers also added to their woes.
The daily index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America settled at $458/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $2/mt. The indices for US-origin, UK-origin, and Australia-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $463/mt, $452/mt, and $462/mt cfr Chattogram, respectively. Deals for HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $455-460/mt cfr Chattogram pushing offers to $460-465/mt cfr Chattogram.
Rebar prices up on high scrap
Following a sharp rise in the domestic and imported scrap prices, a leading rebar producer in Chattogram, BSRM steel announced a price hike of BDT500/mt on Wednesday. Large steelmaker held rebar asking rate at BDT71,000/mt ex works Chattogram. Most other large steelmakers have raised asking prices to BDT69,000-69,500/mt ex-works maintaining the spread between rebar and scrap. Medium-scale steel mills offered rebar at BDT66,000-67,000/mt ex-works, up BDT500-1000/mt.
Billet prices remained stable on slow demand. On Thursday, domestic billet offers were at BDT58,500-59,000/mt ex-works Chattogram. Demand is expected to weaken and pull prices down to BDT55,000/mt ex-works in the coming days, believe Dhaka- based mills.
Southeast Asian billet offers surged amid rising prices in China. Trades reported at $660-665/mt cfr China for 3sp billets from ASEAN suppliers. Offers for ship scrap equivalent to P&S at BDT45,000-45,500/mt ex-yards. Domestic melting HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded unchanged at BDT44,000-44,500/mt ex-yard Chattogram.
Offers for scrapped ships surpassed $500/ldt, and most recyclers turned silent. Yards were cautious of buying heavy tonnages at higher prices amid fear of a recession. Shipbreaking plates of 16mm were offered at BDT52,500/mt ex-yards, unchanged from a day ago, but down from BDT54,000/mt late last week.
($1=BDT84.5)