Bangladesh mills are dealing with weak domestic steel sales for over a quarter resulting in inventory pile-ups. Thus, imported scrap prices remained unviable for most secondary steelmakers who have now lowered their production to 50-60pc of capacity. A large gap between offers and bids resulted in limited trades in the country.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $320/mt cfr Chattogram, largely flat from a week earlier. Limited trades for containerized shredded scrap from Europe, Australia, and New Zealand were reported at $318-325/mt cfr Chattogram against bids of $315-318/mt cfr Chattogram. On Friday, offers for containerized shredded from the UK were heard at $325/mt cfr Chattogram, with buyers totally silent for trades.
The index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) in containers settled at $303.75/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $2/mt from last Friday. Sellers offered HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $305-310/mt cfr Chattogram on Friday, against bids of $295-300/mt cfr Chattogram. Mills were silent for US bulk with offers around $310-315/mt cfr Chattogram. Importers were not in a position to pay over $300/mt cfr Chattogram for the scrap grade, but yards refused these levels amid short supply.
The index for UK/EU-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by $2/mt to $298/mt cfr Chattogram from the prior week. A few sellers offered HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $300-305/mt cfr Chattogram, while bids were at $295/mt cfr Chattogram on Friday. Australian yards found Bangladeshi bids non-workable and trades were limited. The Davis Index for Australian HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $298/mt cfr Chattogram, down $2/mt from the prior week.
The index for Latin America-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $298/mt cfr Chattogram, unchanged from last week. Offers were scarce and most Brazilian traders sought $305/mt cfr Chattogram for HMS 1&2 (80:20) against bids of $290-295/mt cfr Chattogram. Trades were reported at $300-305/mt cfr Chattogram for Latin American HMS #1 over this week.
The Davis Index for busheling settled at $335/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $2/mt. The Kanto tender result on Friday indicated a possibility of a decline in Japanese busheling scrap prices in the coming days. The weekly index for the grade settled at $313/mt cfr, down by $2/mt. Brazilian containerized P&S scrap traded at $313-315/mt cfr Chattogram. Offers for the grade from UK/EU were at $318-320/mt cfr Chattogram against bids of $310/mt cfr Chattogram.
Major mills are seeking government aid to tide over losses incurred due to the pandemic as they believe demand is unlikely to recover before November.
Finished, semi-finished steel
Domestic steel demand in Bangladesh is far from pre-COVID-19 levels. Only branded rebar suppliers were able to afford imported scrap. Manufacturing activities have been impacted by weak domestic demand. Disruption of transportation has also halted trades in many local markets. Barring a few leading steelmakers, most mills announced production cuts by up to 50pc.
The weekly index for domestic billet, Friday, settled at BDT40,750/mt ($481/mt) ex-works Chattogram, with trades reported at the index price. Major steelmakers in Chattogram are offering volume-based discounts to push sales amid a pile-up of finished inventories.
The weekly Davis Index for rebar from medium steelmakers settled at BDT49,750/mt ex-works, down by BDT250/mt from the prior week, inclusive of VAT. Rebar by small-scale producers traded at BDT48,500-49,000/mt ex-works, down by BDT250/mt from the prior week. Small scale steelmakers rebar at prices down by at least BDT3,000-5,000/mt compared to the prices quoted by large steel producers like BSRM and AKS at BDT56,000/mt and BDT54500/mt ex-works, respectively.
Domestic and shipbreaking scrap
In the shipbreaking market, Bangladeshi recyclers kept bids for scrapped ships at $360-370/ldt cfr Chattogram, unchanged from the prior week. Domestic shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S traded at BDT30,500-31,000/mt delivered mill, pushing the index marginally up BDT250/mt from the prior week. HMS 1&2 (80:20) was priced at BDT28,500-29,000/mt ex-Chattogram. The weekly index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at BDT28,750/mt ex- Bangladesh yard unchanged from the prior week.
($1=BDT84.79)