Indian mills are yet to slow down purchases despite imported scrap prices reaching a 17-month high. Persisting demand in downstream industries aided trades, supporting suppliers to raise offers. A shortage of Sponge iron and Pig iron domestically, and the resulting rise in their prices, also played a role.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded on Monday settled at $330.43/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $0.93/mt from Friday and by $6.79/mt from the prior Monday. Many mills bought shredded containers at $330/mt cfr Nhava Sheva late last week. Though demand from secondary steel mills remains weak, major stainless steel producers and alloy makers showed interest in restocking. Offers on Monday were in the range of $332-335/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, with indications of a further rise by $10-15/mt after the Diwali festival from Nov 14-16.
In Turkey, the daily Davis Index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at $296.62/mt cfr on Friday, up by $1.12/mt. Several deals were reported in the Turkish bulk market, which gave prices a lift.
UAE-based traders raised HMS offers by $5/mt from Friday, with the Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Monday, increasing by $2/mt to $320/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Offers for containerized #1 HMS without the cast and galvanized iron from Dubai were at prices above $325/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Monday.
The Davis Index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at $321.7/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Monday, up by $7.32/mt from a week ago. Suppliers are offering bulk cargoes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $330/mt cfr Kandla, but buyers showed limited interest at these price levels. Bulk demand could recover for January shipments post the Diwali festival, driving prices up to $350/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
Billets gain
Strengthening Chinese markets pushed billet prices to reach an 18-month high for seaborne trades. On Monday, Chinese producers offered domestic billet at CNY3570/mt ex-Tangshan, up by CNY30/mt. The rise is likely to instill positive sentiment in the market. Around 33,000mt of billets from Indonesia were sold at $460/mt cfr China. Against this backdrop, Indian mills are expecting billet export prices to reach $455/mt cfr Philippines and SE Asia.
Subcontinent
Limited container availability caused by a mismatch between imports and exports has pushed freight prices up for a few routes in South Asia. Thus, the container availability index has hit a record low on the US and China routes.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Monday, settled at $332.23/mt cfr India subcontinent, up by $4.72/mt from Friday. The Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at $321.74/mt cfr India subcontinent, up by $5.12/mt from Friday.
($1=Rs74.14)