With the lockdown extension till April 30, steel production in Pakistan continues to remain shut. Most mills are awaiting a status update on when construction and manufacturing could restart. Though, government guidelines state some industries in the remote rural areas with limited labour involved can resume operations.
Scrap importers, however, continued to be in the market amid limited domestic scrap availability. With the upcoming Ramadan festival beginning end of the week, the remainder of the labour could also head to their hometowns, making loading/unloading activities difficult.
The weekly Davis Index for containerised shredded increased by $19/mt to settle at $270/mt cfr Port Qasim on Friday. Early this week, trades for containerised shredded concluded at $265-270/mt cfr Qasim. In the latter part of the week, a few shredded trades concluded at $270-275/mt cfr Qasim.
Tightened supply in the global market gave ferrous scrap prices a lift. The Davis Index for Dubai-origin #1 HMS settled at $268/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $5/mt from the prior week. Offers for a mix of #1 HMS and P&S were at $265-270/mt cfr Qasim. Containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) from UAE traded at $260/mt cfr Qasim.
The Davis Index for P&S settled at $276/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $18/mt from the prior week. P&S scrap from Brazil and the United Kingdom offered at $275-280/mt cfr Qasim.
The index for busheling settled at $280/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $5/mt from the prior week with no major trades reported. Containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the UK and US was offered at $250-255/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $10-15/mt from the prior week. Latin American HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded at $240-245/mt cfr Qasim.
Pakistan’s domestic steel market remains flat
Almost all major steelmakers in Karachi and Punjab remained shut with no activity in the billet and rebar markets. Some northern region-based steel makers restarted operations. A few others are expected to resume production next week.
Pakistan’s All Iron Steel Merchants Association (AISMA) has called for tax relief measures as they are facing the brunt of the lockdown. For smooth functioning and ease of doing business, the body has appealed for lowering of general sales tax from 17pc to 9pc.
The weekly Davis Index for commercial Bala billet settled flat at PKR87,500/mt ex-yards Punjab, inclusive of local taxes. The Davis Index for G-60 billet settled at PKR93,250/ mt cfr Qasim, also unchanged from the prior week.
The Davis Index for G-60 rebar settled flat at PKR108,500/mt ex-plant Karachi and PKR107,500/mt ex-plant Punjab. Domestic scrap prices in Pakistan remained flat with medium grade scrap, equivalent to shredded, offered at PKR67,250/mt and mixed HMS and P&S at PKR66,500/mt ex-works.
($1=PKR166.9)