Domestic ferrous scrap prices continued to gain momentum on Thursday as most sellers remained bullish as steel prices rallied. Although steel demand is on the mend, it is falling short of sellers’ expectations, thus mills procured limited scraps.
The bi-weekly Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by Rs500/mt ($6.71/mt) from Tuesday to Rs35,000/mt del Indore mill while the index for sponge iron rose by Rs300/mt to Rs32,800/mt del mill. In Raipur, the bi-weekly Davis Index for end cutting remained unchanged at Rs38,000/mt del mill while the index for sponge iron rose by Rs50/mt to Rs29,650/mt del mill. Demand for finished steel and scrap in Madhya Pradesh was relatively healthy stated market participants.
In Ludhiana, the bi-weekly Davis Index for #1 busheling was up by Rs1,000/mt at Rs39,000/mt del mill while the index for sponge iron rose by Rs50/mt to Rs33,300/mt del mill. It is unlikely that these prices would last as most buyers remained unwilling to accept these offers, said market participants.
In Mandi Gobindgarh and Mumbai, the daily indexes for HMS 1&2 (80:20) remained unchanged at Rs35,700/mt and Rs33,700/mt del mill, respectively. The index for sponge iron was up by Rs700/mt to Rs31,800/mt del Mumbai mill, while in Mandi, it was down by Rs100/mt to Rs33,200/mt del mill.
($1=Rs74.4)