In Bangladesh, mills with low inventory continued the purchase of ferrous scrap despite ongoing lockdown and seasonal slowdown due to Ramadan. Improved demand pushed offers for imported ferrous scrap up by $5-15/mt. Domestic scrap price rose by BDT1,000-2,000/mt ($11.81-23.63/mt) from the prior week on tight supply from shipbreaking yards.
Business sentiments improved on Monday as market participants expect the government to relax the COVID-19 lockdown post-April 28. Some mills with ample scrap inventories on-hand resisted high offers but most are expected to be in the market with a fresh round of enquiries this week.
In the domestic market, lockdown and bearish outlook ahead of monsoon season is expected to slow demand from Bangladeshi mills. Increased gap between container freight charges between New York port to Chattogram and Indian/Pakistani port will keep offers elevated for Bangladeshi mills even in the near terms, believe traders. Freight charges between New York port to Chattogram is estimated at around $80/mt while that from New York port to India or Pakistan is at $50-52/mt.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Monday, settled at $483.5/mt cfr Chattogram, up $1/mt from Friday. Offers continued to recover with most buyers failing to find low-priced materials from suppliers. UK-origin containerized shredded offered at $485-490/mt cfr Chattogram. In recent deals, UK origin shredded heard sold at $487-489/mt cfr Chattogram for prompt delivery boosted prices further.
In the bulk market, increased freight rates pushed offers higher by $5/mt from Friday. Offers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the US West Coast rose to $490-495/mt cfr Chattogram. Stiff competition among buyers from China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh for high-grade Japanese scrap pushed offers further up this week. Offers for Japanese #2 HMS heard above $475-480/mt cfr Chattogram.
The index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America settled at $464/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $1/mt from Friday. Most Latin American yards preferred to sell in their domestic market while some raised HMS 1&2 (80:20) offers to $465-470/mt cfr Chattogram on higher freight charges.
UK origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) prices rose amid weakness in the British pound against the US dollar. In a recent deal, over 1,000mt of containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded at $463/mt cfr Chattogram, up from bids of $455-460/mt the prior week. Singapore origin mixed #1 HMS and P&S sold at $475/mt cfr Chattogram.
The daily indexes for US-origin, UK-origin, and Australia-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose to $465.71/mt, $463/mt, and $470/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $0.67/mt, $3/mt and $3/mt.
Amid tight domestic scrap supply, a few buyers booked Ukrainian HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $458-460/mt cfr Chattogram despite quality concerns.
Domestic billet inches up, rebar flat
Domestic steel prices have remained stable despite the Ramadan lull. While most medium-scale mills in Dhaka raised asking rates for rebar by BDT1,000/mt to BDT68,500-69,500/mt ex-works. Large steelmakers like AKS and BSRM held their offers above BDT70,500-71,500/mt ex-works, stable.
Ship scrap equivalent to P&S rose by BDT48,000-48,500/mt ex-yards. The domestic mixed HMS 1&2 (80:20) and plate cuts at BDT45,500/mt ex-yard Chattogram, stable on Monday.
Offers for 16mm ship plates at BDT54500-55,000/mt ex-yards, while import prices for scrapped vessels were at $500-510/ldt cfr Chattogram. Recyclers stayed away from high offers which affected the generation of ship scrap.
Domestic billet offers rose by BDT1,000/mt from Friday to BDT61,500-62,000/mt ex-works Chattogram despite limited trades.
($1=BDT84.5)