Pakistani ferrous scrap importers showed a willingness to raise bids for containerized scrap as demand showed signs of improvement amid limited inventories with mills. Domestic steel prices have also stabilized after falling by PKR2,000-2,500/mt. Many participants believe that ferrous scrap trades could rise as finished steel consumption is expected to pick up before the monsoons reach their peak slowing construction activities.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded settled, Thursday, at $515/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $5/mt. Amid positive cues from the Chinese steel market, Asian steel and ferrous scrap demand started to improve again.
On Thursday, trades for shredded reported were in the range of $512-515/mt cfr Qasim for material from the UK and European yards. A trader also claimed to have sold shredded in small volumes at $517-518/mt cfr Qasim on Thursday, indicating strengthening sentiment.
In Turkey, a UK supplier sold a mixed cargo for July shipment boosting demand further. Prices could jump amid demand recovery. But some buyers were waiting for domestic rebar prices to offer a clear direction.
The daily index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose to $478/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $4/mt. Offers for UAE-origin mixed #1 HMS and P&S also rose to $485-490/mt cfr Qasim on Thursday.
The daily index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $492.5/mt cfr Port Qasim, up $3.5/mt. US yards were offering limited quantities in Asia as domestic demand remained strong while June domestic monthly settlements for ferrous scrap are expected to rise by $30-60/gt from May prices.
In the domestic market, Art Pure Q Toke scrap equivalent to shredded was priced at PKR93,200-93,500/mt ex-yards, down PKR2,200-2,500/mt from Friday last week. Bala billet prices were unchanged at PKR114,000-114,500/mt ex-works, while continuous casting billets were priced at PKR123,000/mt ex-works, down PKR1,000/mt ex-works from Wednesday.
Offers for G-60 rebar were at PKR141,000-141,500/mt ex-works Lahore while asking prices by small-scale steelmakers for rebar were at PKR131,000/mt ex-works Lahore.
($1=PKR155.3)