Steel mills stayed away from ferrous scrap imports amid the COVID-19 related lockdown. With finished steel demand coming to a halt in the country, prices plunged in the domestic market. Mills mulled cancelling earlier bulk bookings. The Chattogram port authority has enforced a 14-day quarantine rule for containers coming from affected regions impacting cargo movement.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded scrap settled at $260/mt cfr Chattogram on Friday, down by $24/mt from the prior week. Early this week, thin trades for containerized shredded were at $260-265/mt cfr Chattogram, which then dropped to $250-255/mt cfr Chattogram before markets came to a standstill.
The Davis Index for containerized P&S settled at $268/mt cfr Chattogram on Friday, down by $22/mt from the prior week. The Davis Index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) declined to $248/mt cfr Chattogram, from $265/mt in the prior week. The Davis Index for Australian HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $255/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $13/mt from the prior week.
The Davis index for Latin American HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $248/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $15/mt from the prior week. Brazilian traders lowered their offers to $245-250/mt from $260-265/mt levels to encourage trades, but only a few trades were reported early in the week.
Domestic steel prices continue to drop on COVID-19 panic
Operations at mills were hampered due to the lockdown measures. The Davis Index for domestic ship-breaking HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at BDT28,500/mt inclusive of local taxes ex-yard Chattogram on Friday, down by BDT1000/mt ($12/mt) from the prior week. The Davis Index for domestic ship-breaking P&S settled at BDT29,000/mt ex-yard, down by BDT1000/mt ($12/mt) from the prior week. Shipbreaking in Bangladesh has been put on hold at present.
Finished steel demand is close to nil as mega infrastructure projects have been stalled amid the lockdown. The Davis Index for large steelmakers rebar settled at BDT58,750/mt ex-producer, down by BDT1000/mt from the prior week.
($1=BDT84.35)