Indian ferrous scrap importers resumed trades in small quantities with a few sellers matching comparatively lowered bids by Indian producers. Demand for imported ferrous scrap turned flat on limited supply in the domestic market.
Most steelmakers have announced price hikes of Rs2,000-2,500/mt for rebar and other finished steel products for August shipments which has boosted sentiments.
The daily Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) rebounded by $4/mt to $472/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, on Thursday. Prices recovered amid an improvement in demand from mills in India and Pakistan. Domestic ferrous scrap prices remained elevated in most major markets in India.
For the UAE-origin #1 HMS, expectations from mills were below $480-485/mt cfr Chennai while offers for the grade were stable $485-490/mt cfr Nhava Sheva and Mundra on Thursday.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded on Thursday dropped by $0.75/mt to $527.5/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Offers for shredded from UK, EU and the US were still at $530/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, but buyers seemed interested at prices below $525/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
Softening prices in supplier countries for obsolete grades fueled expectations of a drop in prices. The daily Davis Index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) remained unchanged at $477.5/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
Rates for domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at Rs36,000/mt ($485.7/mt) delivered Mumbai. While for imported HMS 1&2 (80:20) prices were at $475/mt cfr Nhava Sheva which was around $500/mt including port handling and local transport costs. The price gap between domestic and imported scrap has narrowed, as a result, importers have resumed trades of HMS.
Domestic scrap prices remained mixed due to a limitation in supplies caused by the transporters’ strike in Alang’s shipbreaking market.
The asking rates for rebar was up by Rs100/mt to Rs50,000/mt ex-works in Mumbai, on a sustained demand. In Mandi Gobindgarh, ingot prices were at Rs45,700/mt ex-works as rebar demand slowed.
International iron ore Fe 62pc prices dropped on Aug 5 in the spot market to $170.05/dmt cfr North China, by $13.1/dmt from the previous day. On Thursday, iron ore futures declined over 6pc which extended losses in spot prices.
The daily domestic billet price remained unchanged in China on Thursday at CNY5,100/mt ($789.25/mt) ex-Tangshan inclusive of VAT. HRC export offers from China declined while buying interest for billet imports lagged considerably despite offers of $680-690/mt cfr China, down $30-35/mt from the peak seen in the earlier weeks.
Subcontinent
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded settled at $530.80/mt cfr Indian subcontinent on Thursday, down $0.88/mt, while the daily Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $486.75/mt cfr Indian subcontinent, unchanged from yesterday.
($1=Rs74.21; CNY6.46)