Bangladesh’s domestic steel demand has finally shown signs of strengthening as construction activities picked pace. Usually, March-April is considered peak season for steel demand in the country and mills are expected to start restocking ferrous scrap.
Mills have not resumed bookings as they hope prices will stabilise in the next few days. Some decided to hold trades amid cash crunch while a few have exhausted their credit limits. But falling inventories could lead to even large mills returning to the market next week, said importers, adding that mills cannot hold back purchases for long.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Thursday, settled flat at $414.25/mt cfr Chattogram. A few deals took place at $415-420/mt cfr Chattogram. Bids for shredded were at $410-415/mt cfr Chattogram with mills preferring HMS and P&S. Offers for shredded are higher than P&S scrap as the supply of the premium grades remained tight. HMS supply is high from all origins including Brazil, Australia and the UAE, with a few active offers in the market, said traders.
The daily Davis Index for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) of US and Latin American-origin, Thursday, settled at $396.07/mt and $394/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $3.57/mt and $1/mt, respectively. Australian-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was offered at $380-390/mt, down by $5/mt.
In container deals, Brazilian HMS #1 was offered at $390-395/mt cfr Chattogram. A trader from the UAE offered containerized mixed #1 HMS and P&S at $400-405/mt cfr Chattogram. A mill in Dhaka placed a bid at $380/mt cfr Chattogram.
Central American HMS traded in containers at $370/mt cfr Chattogram. Indian mills offered Sponge iron at $340-350/mt cpt Benapole or $350-360/mt cfr Chattogram.
Bids for Japanese #2 HMS in small bulk were $380-385/mt cfr Chattogram against offers at $400/mt cfr. Japanese suppliers on Thursday started offering high amid short supply from the West regions. The US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) offers from the East Coast heard at $420-425/mt cfr Chattogram and $410/mt cfr Chattogram from the West Coast yards.
BSRM steel mill is expected to merge with its parent company and recorded a profit of BDT1.089bn or $12.85mn in the December quarter, compared to BDT1.39bn in the prior-year quarter.
Domestic steel prices turn up on demand
Medium-scale rebar producers offered billet at BDT57,000-58,000/mt ex yards. Shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S was priced at BDT37,000-37,500/mt ($437-442/mt) ex-yards. The prices of ship plates were around BDT44,000-44,500/mt ex-yards.
End-users targeted rebar prices below BDT53,000-54,000/mt ex-works from small scale producers. Rebar makers could cancel discounts of BDT1,000-1,500/mt amid a revival in demand.
($1=BDT84.75)