Imported ferrous scrap offers to India stayed bullish on global cues. Secondary mills sought lower-priced HMS and Turning but the resumption of rebar and billet exports by primary steelmakers boosted seller sentiments pushing offers higher.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Thursday, settled at $461.25/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $4.12/mt. Market participants expect trades at higher prices amid rising offers. On Friday, shredded from the UK/EU yards offered at $465-475/mt cfr Nhava Sheva with no takers at those levels.
On Friday, Dubai-origin HMS #1 and P&S offered at $425-430/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. The daily Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $423/cfr Nhava Sheva. Many Dubai-based suppliers were desperate to sell the materials amid extended silence from buyers leading to some deals at $390-415/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
Some buyers with the material at port are offering UK-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $375-380/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. But fresh orders are above $410-415/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
The daily Davis Index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Friday, rose $3/mt to $422.5/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Offers have gone up by at least $30/mt from the prior week in the fas market but Indian mills resisted the price hike.
Higher grades like busheling and P&S remained unviable for Indian mills amid tight supply. The indexes for the grade rose $21/mt to $491/mt and $31/mt to $475/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, respectively, amid high offers. The weekly index for Turning scrap increased by $20/mt to $396/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Sellers targetted above $400/mt cfr Mundra on Friday. Offers for West African HMS for 20-21mt loading with CI-GI above $395/mt cfr Nhava Sheva while LMS bundles from the middle east at $385-390/mt cfr Mundra.
Shipbreaking scrap prices in Alang continued the uptrend by rising Rs300/mt on Friday to Rs30,700/mt ex-yard. Despite the fear of another wave of COVID-19 and related restrictions in major scrap markets, the shortage of materials kept prices high.
Ingot prices in Mandi Gobindgarh remained unchanged. A possibility of a strike against rising fuel prices and GST issues slowed trades. Ingot traded at Rs39,700-39,800/mt ex-works Mandi Gobindgarh.
Chinese steel maintain uptrend
Chinese HRC prices are approaching CNY5,000/mt ex-works amid rising futures despite the heavy piled up of inventories at mills. Australian iron ore of 62pc Fe content rose above $175/mt cfr China on Friday. Domestic billet prices rose to CNY4,300/mt ex-Tangshan including VAT, up CNY20/mt from Thursday.
Amid firm imported scrap prices, billet prices in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and China rose by $5-10/mt. Billet offers were at $595-600/mt cfr Southeast Asia on Friday. Iranian mills resumed trades at $18-20/mt higher than prior deals supporting the higher billet prices.
Subcontinent
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $464.42/mt cfr India subcontinent, up by $4.45/mt. The daily index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $427.99/mt cfr India subcontinent, up by $4.65/mt. Collection rates fell amid prolonged winter and lockdowns to control the pandemic in most supplier countries.
($1=Rs72.47)