Most buyers have decided to pause containerized ferrous scrap bookings expecting prices to fall in the coming days in Bangladesh. Buyers are keeping waiting for Turkish bulk deals to conclude for a price direction. Opinions about the price direction were mixed. Domestic steel prices have lost steam amid strong resistance by end-users, including the builders’ association.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Thursday, settled at $500.5/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $7/mt. There were limited trades for shredded as most buyers preferred to book lower-priced HMS scrap. Offers on Thursday were at $500-510/mt cfr Chattogram while buying interest was below $495-500/mt cfr Chattogram. Scrap generation and collection is hampered in Europe due to COVID-19-related lockdown.
In the bulk market, Chattogram-based steelmakers booked cargoes to refill depleting inventories. A cargo with 13,000mt HMS at $500/mt and 9,000mt of shredded at $505/mt was booked from the Oceania region. In other deals, US West Coast sold 38,000mt at $503/mt and 32,000mt at $500/mt cfr Chattogram. Other mills have decided to wait for prices to drop before they purchase tonnages.
The daily Davis Index for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) of US-origin, settled at $481.07/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $5.72/mt. The daily Davis Index for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) of Latin-origin settled at $478/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $3/mt as buyers lowered bids. Offers for HMS #1 from Chile were at around $480-485/mt cfr Chattogram. The decline could be temporary and Brazilian yards expect prices to rebound next week as HRC and billet prices are firm in the global market.
HMS 1&2 (90:10) in containers was offered at $480/mt cfr Chattogram.
Imported sponge iron from India was priced at $380-385/mt Cpt Benapole or $390-395/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $10-15/mt from the prior week. Australian HMS 1&2 (80:20) on Thursday was offered at $475/mt cfr Chattogram against the bids of $465-470/mt cfr.
Domestic steel prices dips
Although demand for finished steel is increasing due to the resumption of infrastructure projects, end-users refuse to accept any rise in prices, state large steelmakers.
Ship scrap equivalent to P&S continued to fall with offers at BDT41,000-41,500/mt ex-works on Thursday. Domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) was offered at BDT40,000-40,500/mt ex-yards Chattogram, while billet traded at BDT50,000-50,500/mt ex-works Chattogram. Mills are offering discounts to encourage trades.
Considering the rise in imported ferrous scrap prices by $75/mt in a month, mills cited an inability to drop their finished steel prices any further.Medium-scale mills in Dhaka sold rebar at BDT60,000-61,000/mt ex-works.
Offers for rebar were at BDT66,000-67,000/mt ex-works, although many mills were targetting prices over BDT70,000/mt ex-works in Q1 2021.
($1= BDT84.68)