Indian imported ferrous scrap offers jumped by $10-15/mt on Monday on anticipated recovery in demand and low ferrous scrap inventories. Although there is a wide price gap between imported and domestic material, the supply of the latter is insufficient to cater to the present demand, believe traders.
A recovery in rebar, ingot, and domestic scrap prices in the range of Rs800-1,000/mt in the past couple of days, lifted sentiment on Monday. For billet and HRC exports, a jump in Chinese prices by over $20-25/mt, supported Indian mills to raise offers this week.
Although trading remains slow, shredded offers jumped on Monday. The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded on Monday, was up by $5/mt to settle at $538.75/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Offers were above $540-545/mt cfr Nhava Sheva following active demand in other subcontinental markets at higher realization compared to India.
Opinions were divided between buyers and sellers. Traders in anticipation of a recovery in demand towards month-end started securing materials from seller countries amid tight supply. Buyers, however, are unsure of the demand sustaining due to the ongoing monsoons and fears over the third COVID-19 wave, expected to arrive in August.
The Davis Index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by $2.5/mt to $482.5/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
Offers for HMS rose by $20-30/mt to fulfill the gap between prices in other subcontinental markets and India. The daily index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by $5/mt to $460/mt cfr Nhava Sheva amid an uptick in rebar prices. Bids of $440-450/mt cfr Nhava Sheva for HMS 1&2 (80:20) found no selling interest from the UAE, UK, and Australian sellers who are targeting offers of $500/mt cfr. The UAE market is likely to close from July 17-25 for Eid holidays, keeping fresh trading and loading activities halted.
In the Alang shipbreaking market, Melting scrap offers on Saturday and Monday rose by Rs600/mt and Rs500/mt, respectively, to reach Rs35,000/mt ex-yards on Monday. In Mumbai, rebar prices Monday rose by Rs700/mt from Friday to Rs47,200/mt ex-works. In Mandi Gobindgarh, ingot prices also by Rs1,000/mt to Rs44,000/mt ex-works.
On Monday, Chinese steel futures for rebar and HRC maintained an uptrend. Steel prices in China could stay elevated after July once summer begins. Domestic billet prices were at CNY5,080/mt ex-Tangshan inclusive of VAT. Billet prices rose by CNY60/mt from Friday, while import prices reached $700/mt cfr China levels spreading optimism in Asian sellers.
Iron ore prices with ferrous 62pc remained largely unchanged at $216/mt cfr North China.
In the export market, expectations for billets jumped by $20/mt from late last week to $620-625/mt fob India at the minimum on Monday. Following a positive sentiment in the export market, Indian buyers could resume imported scrap trades soon.
Subcontinent
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded settled at $543.94/mt cfr Indian subcontinent, up by $3.02/mt; while that for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $499.38/mt cfr Indian subcontinent, up by $3.03/mt from Friday. On the New York to South Asia route, normalized container freight rates were at $84.04/mt, $52.17/mt, and $47.44/mt for Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, respectively, as per data maintained by Davis Index.
($1=Rs74.64)