Bangladeshi steel mills started booking containerized HMS before offers rise further. Strengthening domestic fundamentals also supported trades. Offers levels for industrial scrap grades have already become unviable for importers. Difficulty in sourcing containers and thereby the increased freight rates have increased the landed cost for imported material.
The daily Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $372/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $4.14/mt. Trades for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $370-373/mt cfr Chattogram on Tuesday. A few containers of Australian HMS 1&2 (80:20) sold at $370-375/mt cfr Chattogram, at prices $5-7/mt above last week’s levels. Some mills were not keen on imports from the US and UK due to shipping delays as supplier struggled to secure vessel space.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, settled at $392/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $2.21/mt. Offers for shredded scrap were at $395-400/mt cfr Chattogram from UK/EU and Australia suppliers. Blue steel was offered at $405-410/mt cfr Chattogram. Buyers’ expectations for shredded were at $390-395/mt cfr Chattogram. Offers from European yards have started dwindling ahead of the seasonal winter break. Supply is thus limited, that too at firm asking prices. With offers above $400/mt cfr Chattogram levels, buyers, however, were unwilling to negotiate since they are unable to pass on the hike to end-users.
The daily index for Latin America-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $369/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $2/mt. Offers for Latin American mix HMS #1 and P&S at $375-378/mt cfr Chattogram, while a few containers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Chile were at $368-370/mt cfr Chattogram. Domestic markets in Latin America are bullish due to the recovery in steel demand.
Trades slowly up for rebar and billets
Trades for domestic billets started picking up on the back of demand recovery. After a hike on Monday by BDT1,000-1,500/mt, domestic billet prices were unchanged at BDT48,000-48,500/mt ($566-572/mt) ex-works Chattogram on Tuesday. A few steelmakers in Dhaka even offered billets at BDT49,000/mt ex-works, including local taxes and VAT. Steelmakers canceled discounts on most products.
Large scale steelmakers like AKS and BSRM raised rebar prices by BDT1,000-2,000/mt to BDT58,500-60,000/mt ex-works, to pass on the increased raw material costs. Following their suit, medium and small-scale producers hiked rebar prices by BDT2,000-2,500/mt in Bangladesh.
Domestic and shipbreaking scrap
Domestic shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S increased by BDT500-1,000/mt from last week to BDT37,500-38,000/mt ex-yards Chattogram. Offers for scrapped vessel imports were at $390-400/ldt, with delays in arrival due to seasonal concerns.
($1= BDT84.68)