Pakistani buyers continued to import ferrous scrap to refill inventories. Mills had bought very limited volumes in December anticipating prices would lose steam in January, however, strengthening global cues supported high offers. Many buyers have turned active in the last couple of days, but offers are insufficient to cater to the rising demand.
US recyclers are targeting a sharp price hike driven by a bullish US domestic market which rose $90-100/gt this week. Before these prices reflected in the Asian market, a few mills looked to restock material despite cash flow concerns. Many European countries including the UK, Germany and Belgium are under lockdown, however, loading and port activities remain unaffected.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Thursday, jumped to $490/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $13.57/mt as trades continued at higher offers. Trades for the US and UK-origin containerized scrap Wednesday heard at $480-485/mt cfr Port Qasim. On Thursday, 1,000mt of shredded from Europe traded at $490/mt cfr Port Qasim. But many mills still prefer to wait to gain clarity from Turkish booking for February and March shipments.
The Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $450/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $1/mt from Wednesday. UAE suppliers sold #1 HMS to Pakistani buyers at $450-455/mt cfr Port Qasim. While offers for containers of mixed #1 HMS and P&S sarya on Thursday heard at $455-460/mt cfr Qasim. The daily index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $453.21/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $2.5/mt from Wednesday.
Billet and rebar
Domestic billet prices firm driven by high imported scrap prices. Sales of finished steel recovered but remained slow amid the liquidity crunch. On Thursday, prices for domestic Bala billets were unchanged at PKR106,500-107,500/mt ex-works and at PKR104,000-105,000/mt ex-works Lahore. In Karachi, all major rebar makers held rebar prices amid high ferrous scrap prices in the international market. A major mill kept G-60 rebar asking rates at PKR135,000-135,500/mt ($840-841/mt) ex-works for 12-32mm. Local rebar offered at PKR116,000/mt ex-works.
Domestic scrap
On Thursday, local Art Q toke scrap equivalent to a mix of HMS and P&S remained flat at PKR86,000-86,500/mt ex-yard Lahore. Pure Q Toke (shredded) offered at PKR87,000-87,500/mt ex-yards, flat amid rising demand and low availability. Offers for scrapped vessels climbed by $10/mt to $440-450/ldt cfr Pakistan.
($1=PKR160.58)