Bangladeshi mills purchased a limited volume of containerized scrap to maintain their inventory levels for production. Most large importers in the country are waiting for Chinese mills to resume trades in the coming days for a price direction. Domestic finished steel demand in March is expected to be bullish due to the peak construction season.
Positive market sentiment in the global market and rising steel demand in most buyer countries have made sellers raise asking prices. Japanese sellers raised small bulk offers for Bangladeshi buyers by $10-15/mt.
There were a few trades for containerized HMS and PNS scrap. The daily Davis Index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $425/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $7.5/mt; while the index for the grade from Latin America was at $420/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $5/mt. A trader bought 500mt of Brazil-origin HMS 1&2 (90:10) at $430/mt cfr Chattogram. South America-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded at $415-420/mt cfr Chattogram despite offers of $430-435/mt cfr on Wednesday.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Wednesday, settled at $453.13/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $3.44/mt from Tuesday. Bids for shredded were at $450-455/mt cfr Chattogram against offers of $460-470/mt cfr on Wednesday. Mills could opt for bulk purchases amid elevated container freight charges. Although container supply has started to ease, traders believe a considerable drop in freight rates is unlikely.
Offers for containerized UK-origin sheared scrap were at $425-430/mt cfr Chattogram.
There were only a few offers for HMS #1 from Chile with sellers targeting $430-440/mt cfr Chattogram. Most suppliers stayed away from seaborne trade amid strong domestic demand and prices. Australia origin containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) offered at $445-450/mt cfr Chattogram with no buyer at those levels.
Domestic steel prices rise on demand
Ship scrap equivalent to P&S traded at BDT40,500-41,500/mt ex-works. The landed cost for imported P&S including import taxes, port clearances, and other charges comes to BDT42,000-42,500/mt. Thus, sellers could raise domestic scrap offers by around BDT1,000/mt, and trades for imported material could rise.
On Wednesday, domestic billet traded at BDT51,000-52,000/mt ex-works Chattogram, up BDT1,000/mt from the prior day. Large-scale steelmakers offered rebar at BDT65,000-66,000/mt ex-works, up BDT500-1,000/mt. Rebar offers from medium-scale mills in Dhaka were at BDT60,000-63,000/mt ex-works depending on quality, while small-scale mills offered rebar at BDT57,000-58,000/mt ex-works on rising input costs.
($1=BDT84.74)