The outlook for steel demand remains bleak in the current lockdown situation across India. Indian steelmakers remain hopeful of resuming operations post April 14, however, several states have already indicated an extension of the lockdown is likely.
A few mills were active in liquidating their finished steel and billet stocks with aggressive bids this week. No manufacturers were in hurry to buy imported scrap cargoes this week. Trades were thin in the imported ferrous scrap market. Turkish imported scrap prices moved up by $30-35/mt in recent bulk cargo deals.
The weekly Davis Index for containerised shredded increased by $15/mt to $253/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Thursday. Shredded in containers is offered at $260-265/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, but no buyers or traders were ready for transactions.The Davis Index for containerised P&S 5ft settled at $258/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $13/mt from the prior week. The weekly Davis Index for busheling settled at $263/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $13/mt. The weekly index for turning scrap settled at $218/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $10/mt.
A shortage of domestic scrap is anticipated in the coming days on a significant drop in generation rates from demolition and manufacturing activities. Ship breaking operations have also been shut this week with the country restricting beaching of vessels arriving at Alang. These indicators and a drop in bulk vessel import volume in the first quarter of 2020 could likely create lower domestic availability, a leading steelmaker on the east coast said.
Major ports, including Nhava Sheva, Chennai and Kandla have been witnessing a piling up of containers amid restricted movement of crews, and transport issues across the states.
Importers struggle to find heavy melt scrap offers
Dubai went into lockdown this week with no new bookings. The Davis Index for UAE-origin containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by $3/mt to $253/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. The Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the UK and Europe settled at $235/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $5/mt from last Friday.
African origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was offered at $250-255/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. A Chennai-based importer booked Brazilian HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $240/mt cfr Chennai. The Davis Index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $240/mt cfr Chennai, up by $7/mt from the prior week. The Davis Index for the UK and EU-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $240/mt cfr Chennai, up $5/mt from the prior week.
The Davis Index for Australia-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $245/mt cfr Chennai, up by $7/mt from the prior week.