Mills lowered their bids by $10/mt for imported ferrous scrap from the prior week as steel demand in the country remained subdued.
Inquiries for bulk cargoes were close to none as major buyers, including BSRM, AKS and KSRM, are still running at 50-60pc of their capacities. Steelmakers have kept production low to avoid piled up inventories considering weak domestic demand likely to persist for the next two months.
Infrastructure projects also are unlikely to gain momentum amid lack of stimulus measures. Supplier yards lowered offers mid-week as bulk import prices in Turkey came under pressure. Turkish mills had booked cargoes aggressively earlier this month and now hold enough inventories at hand.
Offers for mixed bulk cargoes are in the range $295-300/mt cfr Chattogram, but bulk trades could remain hit for two months at the minimum. A major steel mill heard to have booked 10,000mt of busheling from Japan at $303/mt cfr Chattogram.
In the containers market, the Davis Index for shredded settled at $295/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $3/mt from the Thursday and by $7/mt from the prior week. Dhaka-based mills booked shredded from the US, Australia, New Zealand at $290-295/mt cfr Chattogram.
The Davis Index for containerised P&S settled at $300/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $5/mt from the prior week. Brazilian P&S traded at $295-300/mt cfr Chattogram mid-week.
The index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $280/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $3/mt and by $5/mt from the prior week. A few bids for the grade were at $275/mt cfr Chattogram.
The Davis Index for Latin American HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $271/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $2/mt from Thursday and by $9/mt from the prior week. Offers for #1 HMS from Brazil and Chile were at $270-275/mt cfr Chattogram with no buyers interested in those prices. A few trades of busheling were at $303-305/mt cfr Chattogram.
The Davis Index for Australian HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $275/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $4/mt from the prior week. Trades were reported at the index price. Few trades of Europe-origin containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $265/mt cfr Chattogram.
Finished and semi-finished steel
Steel demand in the country remained sluggish and major steelmakers offered a discount of around BDT1,000/mt on rebar to liquidate inventories. Trades of ferroalloys and sponge iron with India are still hit by the pandemic and stocks with refractories are drying out.
The weekly index for domestic billet settled at BDT41,000/mt ex-works Chattogram, up by BDT1,000/mt. Sales of billet in the domestic market improved marginally giving its prices a lift.
The weekly Davis Index for rebar from large steelmakers settled at BDT57,000/mt ex-producer, down by BDT500/mt. Small scale rebar producers offered it at BDT51,000-52,000/mt ex-plant Dhaka.
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 BDT27,250/mt inclusive of local taxes ex-yard Chattogram, down by BDT250/mt from the prior week. The Davis Index for shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S settled at BDT28,250/mt ($333/mt) ex-yard, down by BDT250/mt from the prior week.
Activities in Bangladesh’s shipbreaking market have started to improve gradually as hindrances due to reduced banking hours have been ironed out. Around Five cargo ships were sold this week.
Ship deals heard
1.30,000ldt ship sold at $283/ldt
2.7,000ldt ship sold at $300/ldt
3.5,000ldt ship sold at $300/ldt
($1=BDT84.91)