Bangladeshi mills resumed containerized ferrous scrap trades as sellers reduced offers. The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, settled at $415.71/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $4.29/mt from Monday. Prices are down by over $95/mt in the three weeks (since Jan 12).
Suppliers from UK/EU have started lowering offers amid strong resistance from steel mills. On Tuesday, bids for shredded were at $410-415/mt cfr Chattogram. But mills are awaiting clarity from the Turkish market before booking healthy tonnages.
HMS prices continue downtrend
The Davis Index for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) of US and Latin American-origins, Tuesday, settled at $401.43/mt and $396/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $6.78/mt and $7/mt, respectively, from Monday. Australian-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) offered at $385-390/mt, down by $5/mt.
In container deals, a mill in Dhaka bought P&S from the UK at $420/mt cfr Chattogram and 500mt of HMS 1&2 (90:10) at $400/mt cfr Chattogram. A trader from the UAE offered containerised mixed #1 HMS and P&S at $405-410/mt cfr Chattogram.
Indian mills offered Sponge iron at $345-350/mt cpt Benapole or $355-360/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $5/mt on Tuesday amid weak fundamentals.
In the bulk market, Japanese #2 HMS in small bulk was at $390-400/mt cfr Chattogram, down $10/mt from late last week. US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) offers from the East Coast heard at $430-435/mt cfr Chattogram and $415/mt cfr Chattogram from the West Coast yards.
Shipbreaking plate prices down
Prices for shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S were at BDT37,000-37,500/mt ($437-442/mt) ex-yards. Shipbreaking plate prices dropped again after rising a bit late last week on demand revival. Prices on Tuesday were at BDT44,000-44,500/mt ex-yards . The demand for steel increased on rising infrastructure activities but local elections across the country slowed trades. The market was largely quiet on Tuesday.
Some deals heard at lower prices do not jive with the market sentiment as demand has firmed up in Bangladesh. For shipbreakers, offers of vessels reported 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.
Medium-scale mills in Dhaka lowered their base asking rates for rebar by BDT500-1,000/mt from the prior week to BDT56,500-57,000/mt ex-works. 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)