Steel mills in Bangladesh slowed purchases of imported scrap in the latter part of the week after active trades early this week. Bids dropped in the second half of Friday despite firm expectations from suppliers.
Some market participants expect domestic steel prices to come under pressure amid the impending arrival of monsoon and limited cash flow with small- and medium-scale furnaces. The government is likely to lift the national lockdown after May 23, which could briefly increase buying activity next week.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled unchanged at $542.5/mt cfr Chattogram. Offers for containerized shredded from UK/EU-yards were firm at $545-550/mt cfr Chattogram with limited buying. The index rose by $3.75/mt from last Friday. Bids declined by around $10/mt on Friday compared to early this week. Yards are interested in catering to bulk inquiries due to a shortage of empty containers. But no mill was interested in bulk bookings as they are unwilling to accept current levels of $550/mt cfr Chattogram for HMS 1&2 (80:20) in the present market.
The Davis Indexes for P&S and #1 busheling, Friday, rose to $555/mt and $576/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $6/mt and $5/mt, respectively, from the prior Friday. Scrap generation and collection rates at supplier yards have taken a hit. On Friday, offers for the UK-origin P&S in containers were above $550-560/mt cfr Chattogram while mills were interested in $520-525/mt cfr Chattogram levels.
The daily index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America settled at $505/mt cfr Chattogram, down $1/mt. Trades for the grade were reported at $503-505/mt cfr Chattogram while for the #1 HMS offers remained firm from Latin American yards above $510/mt cfr Chattogram.
The indexes for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) fell by $2.5.mt to $515/mt, UK-origin settled unchanged at $510/mt, and Australia-origin declined by $5/mt to $515/mt cfr from May 14.
Many deals for HMS 1&2 (80:20) were heard this week in the range of $510-515/mt cfr Chattogram depending on the origin. The weekly index for ship scrap equivalent to P&S settled at BDT48,000/mt ($566/mt) ex-yards, up by $1,000/mt on Friday. The index for domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at BDT46,250/mt ex-yard Chattogram, up BDT750/mt.
Trades for heavy melt scrap bundles were also reported at BDT44,500-45,000/mt ex-yards. The weekly index for billet was at BDT61,500/mt ex-works, up BDT1,000/mt. Limited trades were reported at BDT61,500-62,000/mt ex-works. Offers for 16mm ship plates were at BDT55,000-55,500/mt ex-yards.
Rebar sales continued to disappoint large steelmakers who had to hike prices due to high input costs. After returning from Eid holidays, large-scale steelmakers have hiked rebar prices by BDT1,500-2,000/mt ($18-24/mt) to BDT72,500-73,500/mt ex-works.
The weekly index for rebar from large-scale mills settled at BDT72,500/mt, up BDT2,000/mt ex-works. The weekly indexes for rebar by medium and small-scale mills rose by BDT2,000/mt to BDT69,000/mt ex-works, and BDT1,750/mt to BDT62,750/mt ex-works, respectively. Buyers limited their purchases of finished steel.
End-users in Bangladesh are unsure of booking at present price levels because the arrival of monsoon could pressure steel prices further.
($1=BDT84.84)