Bangladeshi steel mills showed limited interest in containerised ferrous scrap. Most large steel mills have already booked materials to match their requirements, however, shortage of containers globally prompted a few buyers to inquire for bulk cargoes. High freight rates and delays in shipments have pushed mills to look for bulk over containers.
With the announcement of a one-week lockdown on Monday, most mills have turned cautious and are analysing the impact of the restrictions on raw material and finished steel transportation in the local market. A large number of workers are also expected to travel back to their hometowns ahead of Ramadan and there is a possibility that the government could extend the lockdown period.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, settled at $473.75/mt cfr Chattogram, unchanged from Monday. UK-origin containerized shredded cfr Chattogram being offered at around $480-485/mt cfr Chattogram. The containerized freight charges on the New York to Chattogram route rose as high as $85/mt, up $10/mt from the prior week, according to Davis Index data.
A few yards in Latin America lowered their offers in the domestic market to encourage trades, however for exports, they held offers firm. Most traders raised offers amid the unavailability of vessel space. The daily index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America settled at $455/mt cfr Chattogram, up $1/mt. Indices for US-origin, UK-origin and Australia-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $463/mt, $451/mt and $461/mt cfr Chattogram, respectively.
In the US domestic market, April monthly settlements for the prime grades remained stable as compared to March, however, lower grades fell by only $20/st against earlier expectations of above $30-40/st, HMS offers thus remained high for Asian buyers. The gap between prime grades versus medium scrap grade is expected to widen further in April.
In the bulk market, offers for mixed cargo from the US West Coast were above $480-485/mt cfr Chattogram while full shredded was above $490/mt cfr Chattogram on Tuesday. Turkish mills are expected to resume bulk bookings for May as they have secured massive 300,000mt rebar orders from Southeast Asian buyers.
Japanese suppliers, too, held offers high in the range of $470/mt cfr Chattogram amid a jump in freight rates for all seaborne destinations. Offers for Busheling in containers jumped above $500/mt cfr Chattogram while sheared HMS was traded at $450/mt cfr Chattogram in containers.
Billet up, rebar stable
Following a sharp rise in the domestic and imported scrap prices, billet prices in Bangladesh surged sharply from the prior week. On Tuesday, domestic billet prices rose to BDT58,000-59,000/mt ex-works Chattogram, rising BDT2,500-3,000/mt from late last week. Southeast Asian billet offers were above $645-650/mt cfr amid high freight charges. Billet prices in China hit a 12.5 year high last week.
Offers for ship scrap equivalent to P&S were BDT45,000-45,500/mt ex-yards. Domestic melting HMS 1&2 (80:20) was traded at BDT44,000-44,500/mt ex-yard Chattogram.
All large steelmakers kept asking rates for rebar stable in the range BDT68,000-69,000/mt ex-works post price hike announced last week. Rebar from medium-scale remained at BDT65,500-66,000/mt ex-works.
($1=BDT84.5)