Imported ferrous scrap prices in Bangladesh continue their uptrend amid short supplies. Domestic billet prices in Bangladesh showed a sharp rise of upto BDT3,000/mt ($35/mt) from a week earlier. HMS scrap buyers, Wednesday, raised bids by $5-10/mt from Tuesday amid encouraging recovery in demand.
A few mills resumed trades for HMS scrap paying $10-15/mt more than late last week. The daily index for Latin America-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $354/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $5/mt from Tuesday. Brazilian traders sought above $360/mt cfr Chattogram. Surprisingly, offers for Latin American HMS #1 Wednesday rose to $365-370/mt cfr Chattogram against bids of up to $360/mt cfr Chattogram. Domestic markets in Latin America are firming up amid a recovery in steel demand.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Wednesday, settled at $374.64/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $0.89/mt from Tuesday. There were hardly any deals for shredded on Wednesday. Offers from the UK and US-based suppliers rose above $380/mt cfr Chattogram, while bids continued to lag at $365-370/mt cfr Chattogram.
Buying interest in containers at high prices is very limited. Traders, who had restocked materials at lower levels, are now attempting to push prices as high as possible. They offered P&S scrap at $380-385/mt cfr Chattogram with no buyers at those levels.
In the bulk markets, offers for the US West Coast-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) were above $370/mt cfr Chattogram during the weekend, but no firm offers heard. Many yards are running out of materials while Turkish demand is expected to be very strong. With Turkish mills focused on finished steel sales, suppliers are aiming at $345-350/mt cfr Turkey for HMS 1&2 (80:20). Bangladeshi mills might revise bids to close deals.
Also, an uptrend in the Japanese domestic scrap prices prompted suppliers to focus on the domestic markets.
The weekly Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $359.64/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $3.93/mt from Tuesday. In absence of trades, the index remained at the lower end, however, most offers have gone up to $365-370/mt cfr Chattogram.
Scarcity of HMS scrap is pushing many suppliers from Latin America, Australia to quote in the range $370-380/mt cfr Chattogram in containers, said a trader.
Large scale rebar makers like BSRM and AKS are offering rebar at BDT56,500-57,500/mt ex-works, stable from the prior week and are attempting another price hike of BDT2,000/mt to offset higher raw materials costs. Also, the gap between medium-scale rebar producers and large-scale producers narrowed to BDT2,000-2,500/mt than the usual of BDT5,000/mt.
End-user demand on the other hand remains weak. Small mills facing cash crunch could announce production cuts again to manage the supply-demand gap. Major shipbreakers have over 200,000mt of stock at yards ready for recycling activities. Despite easing supplies, scrapped vessel prices are likely to maintain an uptrend. Offers for scrapped vessel imports were in the range at $380/ldt with indications of increased arrivals and prices reaching $400/ldt by year-end.
Domestic shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S rose BDT500/mt on Wednesday to BDT36,000-36,500/mt ex-yard Chattogram from Tuesday. HMS 1&2 (80:20) offered at BDT34,000-34,500/mt ex-yard Chattogram for mills who prefer to mix it with premium melting grades like busheling.
($1= BDT84.86)