The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded settled at $309.07/mt cfr Nhava Sheva Monday, up by $0.36/mt. Imported ferrous scrap prices in India were mixed Monday with buyers and suppliers having different views on the market direction. Most traders were, however, ready to pay slightly up from Friday to take a position for October and November shipments as supply remains tight. Festivals season is likely to give a boost to auto sales and better cash flows could support steel demand to grow in line with recovering productions. Falling Chinese steel futures has added some uncertainty to finished steel prices.
In Turkey, US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) bulk prices, however, remained flat $295/mt cfr Turkey, with indications of support to the prices. Turkish mills are expected to book more bulk cargoes for the remaining October and November shipments.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded settled at $309.07/mt cfr Nhava Sheva Monday, up by $0.36/mt. Only a few bids for shredded were heard still lagging around $305-308/mt cfr Nhava Sheva countering offers of $310-315/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Monday. Most buyers find shredded scrap less competitive than imported HMS scrap or domestic scrap.
In the bulk market, offers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) were flat in the range of $315-325/mt cfr Kandla against buying interest only upto $300/mt cfr Kandla. A large disparity between offers and bids kept trades limited.
In the billet export market, import prices from mills in South East Asia, especially in Thailand and the Philippines reported a decline of $5-10/mt from a week earlier. Prices dropped in the range $440-445/mt cfr SE Asia from India and Iran. Iranian mills lowered billet export offers in the range $405-410/mt fob levels, down $10/mt a week earlier. The weakness in billet export along with slow demand domestically put negative pressure on ferrous scrap prices in India.
The Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) of UAE-origin was at $292/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, Monday flat from Friday. Deals for Dubai-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $290-295/mt cfr Nhava Sheva with some firm bids around $290/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Monday before prices rise further. Dubai-origin #1 HMS traded at $295-300/mt cfr Nhava Sheva last week with offers reported at $300/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Monday with rising optimism in the global market.
The index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled Monday at $292.25/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, down by $0.25/mt from Friday. Indian mills placed bids for the UK and US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $290-293/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. But most suppliers believe the downside is limited and ferrous scrap prices could receive support in October when demand recovers. The possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 in Europe and UK markets could hit steel prices bringing imported scrap under free fall again.
A few Indian mills, however, held bids low by $5/mt than current offers for imported scrap amid improving domestic scrap supply. HMS1&2 (80:20) from Europe, South America, and West Africa were flat at $285-290/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. A few trades for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Australia were reported at $290/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
Brazilian HMS 1&2 (80:20) in containers was booked at $285-287/mt cfr Chennai on Monday pushing most offers only above $290/mt cfr Chennai.
Subcontinent
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Monday, settled at $305.38/mt cfr India subcontinent, up by $1.47/mt from Friday. The daily Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $288.72/mt cfr India subcontinental, inching up by $0.32/mt from a day prior.
Taiwan
The daily index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) fell by $2/mt to $273/mt cfr Taiwan on Monday. Steel mills expect bids to fall further in the coming weeks with Taiwan having long holidays this week and the next week on the occasion of Moon festival. Offers from South and Central America for HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $265-268/mt which the importers felt were high and no deals were heard.
In domestic Feng Hsin reduced ferrous scrap prices on Monday by $NT300/mt to $NT7200/mt. This was the second $NT300/mt reduction from the week prior.
Japanese export prices fell by JPY1000/mt, while domestic scrap prices remained flat Monday.
Traders stated, fall of Turkish Index by $5-6/mt cfr from Sep 17, showed that globally a correction is taking place in steel demand and ferrous scrap prices.
($1=Rs73.69)