The Bangladeshi government extended the lockdown by five days till Aug 10 to control the COVID-19 spread. Ferrous scrap buyers have thus taken a backseat. In the bulk market, large-scale mills’ price expectations for new cargo were considerably lower than prior deals, following a drop in the Turkey market by $35/mt in a month.
Most steel producers could resume operations at full capacity once laborers return to work and the monsoon withdraws in the coming weeks.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded settled at $548.75/mt cfr Chattogram on Wednesday, down by $1.25/mt. Mills in Bangladesh lowered prices for upcoming purchases as bids softened in India and Pakistan. Most large mills could opt for bulk purchases on high freight rates and tight container supply.
The daily index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) dropped by $3.75/mt to $520/mt cfr Chattogram as the global supply of heavy melt scrap eased, and importers in Bangladesh were largely away from bookings. The daily indexes for UK-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) fell by $1/mt to $512/mt cfr Chattogram, while the index for Australia-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) fell by $2/mt to $520/mt cfr Chattogram.
The daily Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America, remained unchanged at $507/mt cfr Chattogram. Bids were in the range of $500-505/mt cfr Chattogram as global prices softened. Traders struggled to find empty containers to export materials.
Inventories of both ferrous scrap and finished steel remained piled up amid subdued demand and prices of steel. This led to a few deals at reduced prices for steel and domestic scrap. Piled-up rebar inventories of steelmakers could weigh down prices more in the coming days.
Rebar and billet prices remained unchanged in a passive market. Domestic scrap prices were firm due to scrapped vessel offers of above $620-630/ldt cnf Chattogram for shipbreakers.
($1=BDT84.79)