Bangladeshi mills stayed away from bookings scrap in containers in a falling market. Easing supplies, weak domestic steel demand along with a sharp increase in freight charges kept buyers at bay on Thursday.
In the bulk market, offers have dropped by $35-40/mt from their peak in the first half of January. Japanese small bulk prices dropped with Tokyo Steel cutting scrap purchase prices by JPY1,000-2,000/mt ($9.6-19.3/mt) effective Jan 22. Mills are waiting for the market to achieve some stability before booking scrap.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Thursday, settled at $454.5/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $6.75/mt. No major containerized deals reported. On Thursday, there were no firm bids from mills against asking prices of $455-465/mt cfr Chattogram.
The daily Davis Index for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) of US-origin settled at $438.75/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $2.5/mt. Mills resisted offers at $430-440/mt cfr Chattogram for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Australia or Latin America-origin amid falling domestic scrap prices.
A Dubai trader offered loaded P&S mix scrap at $410-415/mt cfr Chattogram which was earlier destined to Pakistan. A sharp drop in prices forced many to start short-selling materials.
The daily index for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) of Latin-origin settled at $438/mt cfr Chattogram in absence of bids. Most yards focused on domestic sales where demand is comparatively better. Indications of HMS #1 from Chile at around $440-450/mt cfr Chattogram with buyers preferring to wait.
Falling domestic prices prompted a few Indian suppliers to check export viability. Suppliers offered Sponge iron at $360-365/mt cpt Benapole countered by bids below $320-330/mt cpt Benapole.
Shipbreaking scrap drops $50/mt
Prices for shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S dropped with trades at BDT38,500-39,000/mt ex-works. Offers for domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at BDT37,500-38,000/mt ex-yards Chattogram, down BDT4,500-5,000/mt in less than a week. Shipbreaking plates traded at BDT43,000/mt ex-yards.
Domestic billets offered at BDT48,500-49,000/mt ex-works Chattogram, while medium-scale mills in Dhaka continued to offer rebar at BDT59,000-60,000/mt ex-works. In January, domestic billet and scrap prices dropped by at least BDT4,000-4,500/mt ($47-53/mt).
For shipbreakers, scrapped vessels offers fell by $30-40/ldt from their peak levels last week. Yards would wait for another $10-20/ldt drop to resume trades, said a recycler.
($1=BDT84.77, JPY103.35)