Bangladeshi steel mills remained slow with very thin trades this week. A persisting shortage of containers and rising freight costs have incrementally raised offers while many small-scale mills indicated stopping purchases and halting productions amid a cash crunch. ‘Victory Day’ holiday on Wednesday also led to slow trading this week.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $446.25/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $20.29/mt from prior Friday and $1.25/mt from Thursday. Bulk offers rose sharply in Turkey but scrap trade slowed in South Asia as prices lagged behind global trends. Containerized offers from the UK and US mills are scarce while a few are targeting only above $450/mt cfr Chattogram. Bids for Australia and Latin American shredded scrap were at $435-440/mt cfr Chattogram.
For Asian bulk buyers, bulk offers have turned unrealistic. Many construction projects have paused temporarily amid cash issues.
The Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $431.25/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $1.25/mt from Thursday and up $25.18/mt from a week ago. Very few offers were at $430-440/mt cfr Chattogram from Australia and the US, differing by quality. Some mills are avoiding imports from the US and UK due to delays in shipment amid tight vessel space.
The daily index for Latin America-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $422/mt cfr Chattogram up by $1/mt from Thursday and gaining $21/mt from Dec 11. Offers for Latin American mix HMS #1 and P&S rose to $430-435/mt cfr Chattogram, while a few containers were booked at $420-425/mt cfr Chattogram from Australia, New Zealand and Chile.
The weekly Davis Index for busheling, Friday, settled at $465/mt cfr Chattogram up by $25/mt from the prior week. Early this week, Blue steel from Australia and the UK was offered at $455-460/mt cfr Chattogram, subsequently, offers from the UK yards were at $465-470/mt cfr Chattogram on Friday. P&S scrap from the UK offered at above $450-455/mt cfr Chattogram with the index rising $24/mt from the prior week. Offers for P&S from Australia jumped above $440-445/mt cfr Chattogram on Friday.
Despite high input costs, the weekly Davis Index for domestic billet, Friday, dropped by BDT1,000/mt to BDT48,500/mt ($570/mt) ex-works Chattogram. Major steelmakers in Chattogram on Friday offered domestic billet at BDT47,500-49,500/mt ex-works as steelmakers offered discounts on most products to encourage sales.
The weekly Davis Index for rebar from medium-scale steelmakers settled at BDT57,000/mt ex-works, down BDT1,250/mt, inclusive of VAT. Amid cash crunch, mills could announce production cuts to balance the supply-demand mismatch and avoid high input costs.
Large-scale rebar makers kept their base asking prices for rebar at BDT62,000-64,000/mt ex-works to keep the spread between scrap and rebar stable. Demand, however, was slow. The index for large steelmakers’ rebar rose BDT1750/mt from last Friday to BDT62,250/mt ex-works. Small scale rebar makers offered rebars at BDT53,000-53,500/mt ex-works.
There has been an increase in the number of offers for ship recycling, however, buyers are stepping back as prices are high and incompatible with the local market demand.
Ship scrap equivalent to P&S was not in sync with a sharp rise in imported scrap prices. The weekly index dropped BDT1,500/mt to BDT38,250/mt ex-yards on Friday. HMS 1&2 (80:20) was priced at BDT37,500-38,0000/mt ex-yards Chattogram. The weekly Davis Index for the grade settled at BDT37,750/mt ex-yards on Friday, up BDT750/mt. Offers for scrapped vessel imports are at $430-450/ldt, up $30/ldt from the prior week.
($1= BDT84.68)