In Bangladesh, mills with low inventory continued the purchase of ferrous scrap, albeit, in thin volumes. Demand is weak ahead of the seasonal monsoon slowdown and the ongoing Ramadan.
Depleting inventories forced a few mills to opt for bulk cargoes as indicated by a couple of deals early this week. Inquiries improved as market participants expect the government to relax the COVID-19 lockdown post-April 28.
In the domestic market, lockdown and bearish outlook ahead of monsoon season are expected to slow demand from Bangladeshi mills.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, settled at $487.5/mt cfr Chattogram, up $4/mt from Monday. Offers continued to recover with most buyers failing to find low-priced materials from suppliers. UK-origin containerized shredded offered at $490-495/mt cfr Chattogram. In recent deals, UK origin shredded sold in the range $487-490/mt cfr Chattogram boosting prices further.
Large steelmakers opted for bulk purchases amid a shortage of containers and a significant gap between the landed cost for imported scrap in bulk compared to containerised. In the bulk market, offers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the US West Coast jumped above $500/mt cfr Chattogram. Two bulk deals confirmed at $470-475/mt cfr Chattogram from mid-April indicating more than $20/mt jump in bulk offers. Out of two, one was full shredded cargo at $475/mt cfr Chattogram and another mixed comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $470/mt cfr.
Stiff competition among buyers from China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh for high-grade Japanese scrap pushed offers further up this week. In recent small bulk trade, Japanese Busheling sold the equivalent price at $530/mt cfr Vietnam, pushing offers for Bangladesh even higher.
The index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America settled at $464/mt cfr Chattogram, unchanged from Monday. Most Latin American yards preferred to sell in their domestic market while some raised HMS 1&2 (80:20) offers to $465-470/mt cfr Chattogram on higher freight charges.
The daily indexes for US-origin, UK-origin, and Australia-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose to $467.5/mt, $463/mt, and $470/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $1.67/mt while later two stable.
Domestic billet inches up, rebar flat
Domestic steel prices have remained stable despite the Ramadan lull. While most medium-scale mills in Dhaka raised asking rates for rebar by BDT1,000/mt to BDT68,500-69,500/mt ex-works. Large steelmakers like AKS and BSRM held their offers above BDT70,000-71,000/mt ex-works, stable.
Ship scrap equivalent to P&S rose by BDT48,000-48,500/mt ex-yards. The domestic mixed HMS 1&2 (80:20) and plates scrap at BDT45,500/mt ex-yard Chattogram, stable on Monday.
Offers for 16mm ship plates were at BDT54500-55,000/mt ex-yards, while import offers stabilized amid muted demand for scrapped vessels at $490-500/ldt cfr Chattogram. Recyclers stayed away from high offers which affected the generation of ship scrap.
Domestic billet offers rose BDT1,000/mt from Friday to BDT61,500-62,000/mt ex-works Chattogram despite limited trades.
($1=BDT84.5)