Indian mills continued to buy HMS from the UAE and UK while resisting shredded trades. Improved rebar and billet demand in the domestic market is expected to support prices in the coming days.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded settled unchanged at $467.5/mt cfr Nhava Sheva as little material was available at lower offers. Mills opted for domestic scrap over imported and showed little interest in booking imports.
Offers for UK/EU-origin shredded remained at $470-475/mt cfr Nhava Sheva with no buyers at those levels.
The daily Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Tuesday, settled flat at $426/cfr Nhava Sheva as trades picked pace amid healthy domestic demand. Offers for Dubai-origin HMS #1 and P&S ranged between $425-430/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
The index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Tuesday, rose $3/mt to $427.5/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
Most infrastructure projects in India are picking pace providing a positive steel consumption outlook for the next couple of months. Traders, thus, expect imports to rise from mid-March.
Shipbreaking scrap prices in Alang remained stable. Despite increased supply, fast-paced demand recovery supported ship plate prices on Tuesday. Towards mid-March, there could be tightness in domestic scrap pushing importers to resume trades, said traders. Prices were at Rs31,900/mt ex-yard. Despite the fear of another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions, a shortage of material kept prices firm. Ingot prices in Mandi Gobindgarh remained above Rs40,500/mt ex-works on sustained demand.
In China, HRC offers were above $705-710/mt fob in the spot market. Australian iron ore with 62pc Fe content recovered above $175/mt cfr China with a jump in iron ore and steel futures. Domestic billet prices rose to CNY4,280/mt ex-Tangshan including VAT, up CNY20/mt from Monday. Iranian billet rose above $560-565/mt fob keeping the Asian billet market afloat, while Indian mills diverted their focus to the domestic market.
Subcontinent
On Tuesday, the daily Davis Index for containerized shredded settled at $470.83/mt cfr Indian subcontinent, up by $0.57/mt. The daily index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $434.82/mt cfr Indian subcontinent, up by $2.40/mt. Availability of containers and delays in deliveries resulted in limited trades for Indian mills from rest other origins than the UAE.
($1=Rs72.47)