Bangladeshi mills shied away from the ferrous scrap market on Friday, the usual slow day of the week. Some steel mills in Chattogram purchased scrap only to maintain inventories for the next two months. Most medium and small-scale furnaces have stepped away from the market to avoid losses.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $482.5/mt cfr Chattogram, down $2.5/mt. Trades remained paused as buyers were cautious of high offers. Offers for shredded remained at $490-495/mt cfr Chattogram on elevated freight rates.
Japanese scrap prices remained high on active seaborne demand. This pushed Bangladeshi mills to turn back to the US and European bulk suppliers. Bulk offers of HMS 1&2 (80:20) heard above $500-510/mt cfr Chattogram on Friday. Japanese suppliers continued to keep offers at $500-510/mt cfr China.
The index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America on Friday settled at $455/mt cfr Chattogram, down $1/mt. Traders focused on domestic sales where demand is active. Trades for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the UK and Singapore reported at $445-450/mt cfr Chattogram.
The daily Davis Index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $456.25/mt cfr Chattogram, down $3.75/mt. Offers were at $460-465/mt cfr Chattogram but few buyers were interested in those levels.
Trades for containerized P&S and #1 Busheling increased this week. The index for P&S settled at $488/mt, down by $7/mt; while that for #1 Busheling was at $498/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $17/mt on Friday. A leading steelmaker bought containerised Busheling at $495/mt cfr Chattogram on Thursday as offers declined from $510-515/mt cfr last week.
Domestic steel prices trend up
Amid short supply, the weekly index for ship scrap equivalent to P&S rose by BDT2,455/mt to BDT45,250/mt ex-works. The index for domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose BDT1,750/mt to BDT43,250/mt ex-yard Chattogram. Buyers opted ship scrap for faster delivery time. Ship plates of 16mm size traded at BDT50,500-51,000/mt ex-yards. Supply from shipbreaking activities is expected to increase with most yards ramping up demolition.
Domestic billet prices surged to BDT55,500-56,000/mt ex-works Chattogram, pushing the index up by $1,250/mt from a week prior.
The index for large steelmakers’ rebar, Friday, rose BDT250/mt to BDT67,250/mt ex-works. Mills cancelled discounts amid rising imported scrap prices and intend to hike steel prices in the coming days.
The index for rebar from medium-scale mills in Dhaka rose BDT750/mt to BDT63,500/mt ex-works. Small-scale mills offered rebar above BDT58,000-58,500/mt ex-works. Rebar traded, albeit, in small volumes in Dhaka at BDT63,000-64,000/mt ex-works medium-scale mills.
($1=BDT84.72)