Indian imported ferrous scrap buyers may soon start booking material as domestic fundamentals have started improving. The outlook for steel demand is positive, keeping steel and scrap prices firm. But the pace of recovery is slow, and sellers could continue to offer more material to other markets like Pakistan and Turkey, where buyers are willing to pay higher prices.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded on Tuesday settled unchanged at $537.5/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Offers for shredded from the UK/EU were at $540-545/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. But mills were not interested in trading at those levels.
The index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled unchanged at $485/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Buyers countered offers of $490-495/mt cfr with bids of $480-485/mt cfr, which kept deals slow.
The availability for higher grades, including shredded, remains tight keeping the gap between HMS and prime grades broad. A shortage of containers makes it difficult for most sellers to accept Indian bids lagging by wide margins.
The daily Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) fell by $3/mt to $473/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Offers from UAE sellers remained firm at around $480/mt cfr, but buyers were unwilling to raise their bids above $470-475/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Some buyers even bid $20/mt cfr below the asking prices, unsure of the steel demand rising according to their expectations.
On Wednesday, domestic billet prices in China Tuesday fell by CNY20/mt ($3.07/mt) to CNY5,240/mt ($806.13/mt) ex-Tangshan inclusive of VAT. Offers for billets from India were still above $625-630/mt fob.
Subcontinent
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded settled at $544/mt cfr Indian subcontinent, up by $1.49/mt, while the daily Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled unchanged at $498.95/mt cfr Indian subcontinent.