Bangladesh’s ferrous scrap market was active on Friday with good demand for imported scrap in bulk cargoes and containers as mills ramped up production this week. Mills, however, lowered their bids sharply in line with a downtrend in global markets. Some mills delayed their purchases as they preferred to wait and book bulk cargoes at lower levels.
The Davis Index for containerised shredded Friday settled at $278/mt cfr Chattogram down by $5/mt from Thursday and $17/mt from the prior week. Davis Index heard trades for shredded at $275-280/mt cfr Chattogram from Australia and New Zealand. Offers from Canada and the US were at $280-285/mt cfr Chattogram.
Offers for mixed bulk cargoes dropped in the range $265-270/mt cfr Chattogram, down $20/mt from the prior week.
Japanese ferrous scrap export prices fell by over JPY2,000/mt and a few buyers in Bangladesh raised inquiries for small bulk cargoes. Bids were heard for #2 HMS at $260-265/mt cfr Chattogram.
Inquiries for bulk cargoes increased this week with major steelmakers including BSRM, AKS and KSRM ramping up production to 60-80pc utilisation rates. These steelmakers have received low-interest working capital loans from the government as part of COVID-19 relief stimulus to help industries resume operations.
The daily index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $263/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $3/mt from Thursday and by $17/mt from the prior Friday. A few trades for the grade were at $260-265/mt cfr Chattogram.
The daily Davis Index for Latin American HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $253/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $2/mt from Thursday and down $17/mt from prior Friday. Offers for #1 HMS from Brazil and Chile were at $260-265/mt cfr Chattogram with no buyer response. Suppliers from Brazil were less keen to lower offers amid a strong realisations in their domestic markets this week.
Few trades for busheling closed at $295-300/mt cfr Chattogram, with index settling at $295/mt cfr Chattogram, down $10/mt from the prior week. P&S from South America traded at $280/mt cfr Chattogram with the weekly index dropping $14/mt from the prior week to $286/mt cfr Chattogram.
The Davis Index for Australian HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $265/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $10/mt from the prior week. Trades were reported at the index price. Europe-origin containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded at $260-265/mt cfr Chattogram.
Finished and semi-finished steel
The weekly index for domestic billet settled at BDT41,000/mt ($483/mt) ex-works Chattogram, unchanged from the prior week. Sales of billet in the domestic market improved marginally, which supported prices.
The weekly Davis Index for rebar from large steelmakers settled at BDT56,500/mt ex-producer, down by BDT500/mt. Dhaka-based small scale producers offered rebar at BDT50,000-51,000/mt ex-plant at a discount of BDT1,000/mt.
Domestic scrap
Domestic ferrous scrap prices declined in Bangladesh with its supply easing this week. The Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at BDT26,500/mt inclusive of local taxes ex-yard Chattogram, down by BDT750/mt from the prior week. The Davis Index for shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S settled at BDT27,500/mt ex-yard, down by BDT750/mt from the prior week.
Bangladesh’s shipbreaking market remained active this week with ship plates prices down by $10-15/ldt.
($1=BDT84.83)