Bangladeshi mills booked limited quantities of ferrous scrap on Friday, only to maintain their inventory levels. Most Dhaka-based mills decided to postpone their purchases and could be in the market next week.
Availability of containers remained scarce and freight rates elevated, which gave domestic ferrous scrap deals a push.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $467.5/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $6.25/mt, with deals at $470-472/mt cfr Chattogram. Bids then fell to $465-470/mt cfr Chattogram.
Japanese small bulk scrap cargo offers declined by $5/mt but remained above present bid levels. Bulk offers from the US East Coast were at $475-480/mt cfr Chattogram.
The daily index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America was at $443/mt cfr Chattogram, down $5/mt amid falling bids. From the prior Friday, prices dropped by $12/mt. Deals for containerized UK-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) concluded at $435/mt cfr Chattogram on Thursday.
The daily Davis Index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $448.21/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $6.79/mt. Offers were at $450-455/mt cfr Chattogram but no buyers were interested in those levels.
In the medium term, sellers are bearish ahead of Ramazan and Eid holidays in April-May. Also, ahead of monsoons in June, finished steel prices usually decline by BDT5,000-7,000/mt on expectations of weak demand. Buyers could stay away from booking large volumes of ferrous scrap in the coming days. Dhaka-based buyers who have stayed away for the last two weeks could restock before Ramadan as their inventories have started to dip.
Only large-scale mills purchased containerized P&S and #1 busheling. The index for P&S and #1 busheling settled at $476/mt and $483/mt, down by $3/mt and $6/mt, respectively, on Friday. To avoid losses, many furnaces focused only on competitively-priced domestic melting and shipbreaking scrap.
Domestic scrap pauses downward trend
Amid rising supply from the shipbreaking operations, the weekly index for ship scrap equivalent to P&S dropped by BDT1,500/mt to BDT43,750/mt ex-works. The index for domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) lowered by BDT1,500/mt to BDT41,750/mt ex-yard Chattogram. Buyers opted for ship scrap due to its faster delivery time.
Domestic billet prices remained in the range of BDT55,000-55,500/mt ex-works Chattogram. Most government projects have delayed payment cycles resulting in cash flow issues for large mills.
The index for large steelmakers’ rebar, Friday, dropped BDT250/mt to BDT67,000/mt ex-works. Large mills offered discounts of BDT500-1,000/mt to boost sales in the retail market. The index for rebar from medium-scale mills in Dhaka dropped by BDT500/mt to BDT63,000/mt ex-works. Small-scale mills offered rebar in the range BDT56,500-57,000/mt ex-works.
On Friday, ship plates of 16mm size were offered at BDT48,500-49,500/mt ex-yards, unchanged from Thursday. Supply from ship-breaking activities could increase as most yards are increasing the pace of demolition.
($1=BDT84.72)