Bangladeshi mills cautiously bought limited volumes of containerized ferrous scrap. The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Wednesday, settled at $414.25/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $1.46/mt from Tuesday. Many mills have not resumed bookings hoping for the prices to stabilise.
Amid strong resistance from steel mills, a few traders were pressured to sell. Supply from the UK yards remained high amid increased collection. Bids for shredded at $410-415/mt cfr Chattogram with mills preferring HMS and P&S. Shredded is being offered even higher than P&S scrap as the supply of the premium grades remained tight. HMS supply is high with a number of active offers in the market, said traders.
The daily Davis Index for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) of US and Latin American-origins, Wednesday, settled at $399.64/mt and $395/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $1.79/mt and $1/mt, respectively. Australian-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was offered at $385-390/mt, down by $5/mt.
In container deals, a mill booked Brazilian HMS #1 at $395/mt cfr Chattogram. A trader from the UAE offered containerized mixed #1 HMS and P&S at $405-410/mt cfr Chattogram.
Indian mills offered Sponge iron at $340-350/mt cpt Benapole or $350-360/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $5/mt amid weak fundamentals.
In the bulk market, prices dropped another $10-12/mt on weak domestic fundamentals. Bids for Japanese #2 HMS in small bulk were $380-390/mt cfr Chattogram. 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.
Domestic steel on downtrend
Shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S was priced at BDT37,000-37,500/mt ($437-442/mt) ex-yards. Prices of ship plates were around BDT44,000-44,500/mt ex-yards.
For shipbreakers, offers for vessels were at $440-460/ldt cnf Chattogram, up $10-15/ldt from the prior week. The gap between HMS imported against shipbreaking import returned to the usual of $40-50/mt, which had contracted due to high imported prices.
End-users targeted prices below BDT55,000/mt ex-works. Despite tight margins, large rebar makers offered discounts of BDT1,000-1,500/mt to encourage sales.
($1=BDT84.75)